The Iloilo City government, through its Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, has officially declared an outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough).
The declaration came following the recommendation of the Health and Sanitation Cluster headed by the City Health Office (CHO) which logged 15 cases of pertussis as of March 25, seven of which are confirmed and 8 are suspected.
Headed by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, the council passed two resolutions, one is declaring an outbreak of pertussis and the other one, recommending to the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) the declaration of a state of calamity due to the disease.
“We need to access funds coming from the calamity fund; we cannot access it unless there is a declaration of the state of calamity,” Treñas explained.
With the declaration, a proposed budget of P16-million has also been approved during the council meeting for the needed measures and responses against pertussis. A big chunk of the fund will go for the procurement of medicines and vaccines.
“If necessary, we will add more funds.”
“If necessary, we will add more funds,” the mayor stressed.
CHO data shows that three of the confirmed cases are from Molo, two from Jaro 1, and one each from Jaro II and Arevalo.
According to CHO Asst. Department Head Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, a total of 26,000 children aged 0 to 59 months old from the districts of Jaro, Molo and Arevalo are projected for vaccination.
“If we have an outbreak, we have what we call ‘outbreak response immunization’, that is why we need additional vaccines.”
“If we have an outbreak, we have what we call ‘outbreak response immunization’, that is why we need additional vaccines. For adults, pregnant women in their third trimester are also high-risk so we will give them the vaccine also because there’s a possibility that they may be carriers and the baby who is not yet vaccinated will have a big chance to acquire pertussis,” Fortuna explained.
On the other hand, the personnel of the Uswag Molecular Laboratory will undergo training for pertussis testing so the city will no longer send specimen to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
