The Department of Health has said it was expecting more local government units across the country to declare outbreaks of pertussis (whooping cough) and measles, as it has purchased 8 million vaccine doses to protect children, which is the segment of the population most vulnerable to such diseases.
However, despite the alarming increase in cases of pertussis, a highly contagious respiratory disease that can be severe in infants and young children, the DOH said the public could continue with normal daily activities.
“Face mask use continues to be voluntary but highly encouraged. Cover coughs (cough into your elbow), and choose well-ventilated areas. The best solution is vaccination,” it said last week.
The DOH has put hospitals on “Code Blue” since March 20 for the implementation of “intensified activities to mitigate the spread of the virus through vaccination, micronutrient supplementation, community engagement, and risk communication across the country.”
Three LGUs have so far declared a pertussis outbreak: Quezon City and Pasig City in Metro Manila, and Iloilo City in Western Visayas. Meanwhile, a measles outbreak has been declared in the entire Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The DOH expects other LGUs to declare outbreaks of these vaccine-preventable diseases soon, once the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Units have forwarded their updated data to the DOH Central Office.
The DOH also said its Disease Prevention and Control Bureau, in coordination with its Procurement Service, was expecting an additional 3 million pentavalent vaccine doses, which protect from pertussis, diptheria, tetanus, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type B; along with at least 5 million measles-rubella vaccine doses.
The procurement came after some local governments complained of a shortage of pentavalent and MMR vaccines provided by the DOH.
The rise of measles and pertussis cases, which are diseases which had been controlled and nearly eliminated in the past, is due to the low vaccination coverage of children since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Currently, only 72 percent of the more than two million children aged 1 year and younger are fully immunized under the DOH national immunization program, which is a far cry from the target of 90 percent needed to protect the population from vaccine-preventable diseases.
As we are now feeling the impact of the vaccination gap that has led to the unfortunate return of what should be vaccine preventable diseases such as pertussis and measles, the DOH has urged LGUs and other private institutions to help in conducting catch up vaccinations for children who missed their immunization shots.
As we try to help contain the spread of these preventable diseases with precaution and vigilance, we will also need to step up vaccination levels in order to ensure that these infections remain isolated and do not become a full-blown outbreak because it has already been proven that we already have the necessary tools. All we need is the will and the determination to use it.*
