A pertussis or whooping cough outbreak is declared officially on March 25, 2024 in Iloilo City.

This after the Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council approved a recommendation of the Iloilo City Health Office (CHO) based on the rise in the number of cases.

According to the latest data of Iloilo CHO, figures reached seven positive cases of pertussis in the city. Three are from the district of Molo, three from the district of Jaro, and one from the district of Arevalo.

Eight suspected cases are also recorded.

The Iloilo CHO has strengthened further its campaign on vaccination among children and pregnant persons.

“Ngayong may outbreak tayo, may tinatawag tayong outbreak response immunization. So that’s why we need additional vaccines,” Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, Iloilo CHO assistant department head, said.

The Iloilo City Local Government Unit will allocate funds to purchase more vaccines.

“Mayroon kaming inaprobahan, 16 million yata. A big portion will be given to medicines and vaccines para makadagdag tayo. Kung necessary, we will add more funds,” Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said.

The Iloilo City LGU has recommended to the Iloilo City Council a declaration of a state of calamity in relation to the pertussis outbreak.

Meanwhile, the data from the Iloilo Provincial Epidemiology Surveillance Unit showed the cases have also reached the “alert and epidemic threshold.”

Based on data from the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (PHO), the province posted a total of ten cases of pertussis or whooping cough. Eight of the cases are laboratory-confirmed, one is considered a probable case, while another is deemed a suspected case.

According to Iloilo PHO, the Department of Health has recommended to the provincial government a declaration of pertussis outbreak in towns where cases are recorded.

“Pwede tayong mag-outbreak response sa mga barangay tulad diyan sa Santa Barbara na. may dalawang barangay na mayroong kaso. Pwede tayong mag-declare na may outbreak diyan,” Dr. Ma. Socorro Quiñon, Iloilo PHO head, said.

Further, Iloilo PHO pointed out the pertussis outbreak comes as no surprise because of the low vaccination coverage in the province.

Following the increasing number of cases, the campaign on vaccination most especially to babies and children will be further beefed up.