Pertussis infection still on 'upward trend' as cases hit 1,566

More than 1,500 Filipinos, mostly young children, have now been infected by the “whooping cough” or pertussis this year, as the Department of Health (DOH) continuously awaits the arrival of more vaccines to combat the highly contagious disease.

As of April 13, DOH Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said that a total of 1,566 pertussis cases have been recorded nationwide since the year started, and the agency is not yet seeing the cases going down anytime soon.

“Ang pertussis or ang tusperina, nasa upward trend pa rin tayo. Hindi pa natin nakikita ang downward trend. Inaantay pa natin na pumasok ‘yung epekto ng pagba-bakuna,” the DOH spokesperson said in a public briefing.

(We are still on an upward trend when it comes to pertussis. We are not seeing a downward trend yet. We are still waiting for the effects of the vaccination to kick in.)

In Quezon City, which earlier declared an outbreak of the respiratory disease, Domingo said a total of 19 cases were recorded as of April 13, and two deaths were already confirmed.

“The good news in Quezon City is our mayor is very proactive and responsive to the incident, to the outbreak of pertussis in Quezon City and nako-control ito [and the disease is being controlled],” he added.

The DOH is expecting the arrival of three million doses of the vaccine that could give protection against pertussis “as soon as possible.”

On top of that, the DOH also procured an additional 5.1 million doses of the vaccine.

Earlier this month, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa announced that there may be a shortage of the pentavalent vaccine in May as the national government’s stocks were running low.

The pentavalent or 5-in-1 vaccine could protect children from pertussis, as well as from diphtheria, tetanus, Hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type B.

The DOH is set to have an emergency procurement of vaccines to curb the spread of pertussis in the country. It is also seeking to procure an older type of vaccine called DPT, which could only protect against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News