BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The city government yesterday declared an outbreak of pertussis or whooping cough after logging 15 cases, mostly infants zero to 12 years old from January to March 25. Of the 15 reported cases, seven are confirmed and eight are suspected.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) convened an emergency meeting yesterday afternoon and approved the recommendation for the declaration of a pertussis outbreak.
Likewise, the disaster office recommended to the City Council to place the metro under a state of calamity to allocate funds for the purchase of vaccines.
Pertussis, commonly known as “whooping cough” 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.
The bacteria may be spread through droplets and indirect contact with articles freshly soiled with discharges of infected persons.
Symptoms include a cough persisting for two or more weeks, paroxysms which usually occurs at night, followed by vomiting and exhaustion.
Infants not yet eligible for vaccination and infants and young children exposed to individuals who are experiencing influenza-like symptoms are at high risk for pertussis.
In a press conference after the meeting, Mayor Jerry Treñas said the city council will hold a special session today to approve the recommendation.
“We need to access our calamity fund; we cannot access it unless there is a declaration of a state of calamity,” Treñas said.
Once the city is placed under a state of calamity, the mayor said, the city government can utilize the proposed P16-million calamity fund for the purchase of medicines and vaccines.
“If necessary, we will add more funds,” Treñas stressed.
In a separate interview, Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, assistant city health officer, said three of the confirmed cases are from Molo district, two from Jaro I, and one each from Jaro II and Arevalo.
Fortuna noted they projected about 26,000 children aged 0 to 59 months old from the districts of Jaro, Molo, and Arevalo to be vaccinated.
“If we have an outbreak, we have what we call ‘outbreak response immunization’, that is why we need additional vaccines,” said Fortuna said.
He said they will also give vaccines to pregnant women who are in their third trimester due to the possibility of being the carrier of the disease and the baby.
On the other hand, the Uswag Molecular Laboratory staff will undergo training for proper conduct of pertussis testing so the city won’t send any more specimens to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for laboratory analysis.
In its advisory issued on March 15, the Department of Health (DOH) reported the region has a total of 18 cases, indicating a 100 percent increase compared to its 2023 morbidity week 10 data.
In 2022, the city recorded only two suspected cases and one confirmed case in 2023. The DOH-6 said Iloilo City recorded 10 cases of pertussis. Of the number, five have been confirmed and the five others are still suspected cases.
This year’s data is indicative of the 400 percent increase from the previous year, the health department reported.
The City Health and Sanitation Cluster called for an emergency meeting with concerned government agencies and public and private hospitals in the city and discussed the current situation in the city and measures to prevent further increase in positive cases.
After the meeting, the Health and Sanitation Cluster recommended intensifying the advocacy and information campaign on the importance of complete childhood immunization among the barangays, pregnant women, primary caregivers, and healthcare workers, among others.
The health officials also strengthened case detection and reporting of cases to both public and private health facilities including schools and daycare centers.
They are also intensifying basic health education on infection, prevention, and control measures such as hand hygiene, wearing of masks, cough etiquette, and isolation for suspect cases.
“The public is hereby advised to adhere to the above recommendations and work in close partnership with the Health and Sanitation Cluster to prevent future cases,” read the statement./PN
