BACOLOD City – A one-month-old infant in Negros Occidental has died of pertussis or whooping cough – the first in the province.
Dr. Girlie Pinongan, head of the Provincial Health Office (PHO), yesterday said the baby was confined at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) in this city.
The baby died last week before the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine released the result of the laboratory test confirming the baby was positive for pertussis.
Pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory disease that can be particularly severe among infants and young children.
This can be acquired primarily through direct contact with discharges from the respiratory mucus membranes of the infected persons.
Pinongan also confirmed the province has a total of five confirmed pertussis cases, including the fatality, and 26 probable cases.
“Kalabanan babies aged between one-month to two years old,” she said.
The PHO continues to remind parents and guardians to ensure their children are vaccinated against pertussis.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stressed that the best way to prevent pertussis, especially among the younger population, is through immunization. This message is strongly echoed by the Department of Health (DOH), which continues to remind the public about the critical importance of the safety and effectiveness of vaccines in combating pertussis./PN
