Pertussis cases in Iloilo City ‘under control’

– The Iloilo City Health Office (ICHO) said that it has controlled the spread of the highly contagious pertussis or whooping cough.

“We now have a low incidence in our pertussis cases. It is already controlled,” said Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, assistant department head of the ICHO.

Meanwhile, ICHO head Dr. Annabel Tang said the situation as 80 percent under control.

Given the decline in cases, health officials recommended the lifting of the state of calamity declaration by the end of May.

Iloilo City was placed under a state of calamity due to the pertussis outbreak on March 26, allowing the city government to use the approved budget of P16.9 million for the procurement of medicines and other necessities to further prevent the spread of the infection.

As of May 11, the city has reported 13 confirmed pertussis cases with one fatality, a one-month-old infant.

The most recent case involved a fully immunized 20-month-old infant, who exhibited symptoms on April 17 and tested positive for the infection in early May.

The ICHO has identified 27 probable cases, with five awaiting laboratory results.

According to Fortuna, 878 children were inoculated with pertussis vaccines in April, followed by an additional 522 in May, bringing the total number of children who received their initial, second, or third doses to 1,400.

The overall outbreak response immunization of the city government witnessed the administration of 8,689 doses, which include booster shots and initial vaccination catch-ups.

“Because of the limited supply of our vaccines, we are focusing on children ages 0-12 months to receive three doses. We have a targeted outbreak response immunization (ORI),” Fortuna added.

The ORI efforts were facilitated by the procurement of 3,700 vials of hexavalent vaccines from a private firm.

It can be recalled that on April 15, the city government received 6,085 doses of pentavalent vaccines from the Department of Health (DoH), but the doses were consumed in just two and a half days.

Meanwhile, the ICHO has given the TDAP (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccine to 741 pregnant women in their third trimester out of the targeted 926. The city government has secured 1,200 doses of TDAP vaccines for this purpose.

Tang said the ICHP is expecting the arrival of additional doses of vaccines procured by the DoH through the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund by the first week of June.