March 27, 2024
MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) said it was expecting more local government units (LGUs) across the country to declare outbreaks of pertussis (whooping cough) and measles and has bought at least 8 million vaccine doses to protect children, the population segment most vulnerable to these diseases.
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 on Tuesday.
Health Undersecretary Eric Tayag also clarified that “there is no lockdown [being imposed], and the wearing of face masks remains not mandatory.”
‘Code Blue’
The DOH has put hospitals on “Code Blue” (medical emergency) 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 the Visayas. Meanwhile, a measles outbreak has been declared in the entire Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The DOH said other local governments were expected to declare outbreaks of these vaccine-preventable diseases in the coming days once the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Units have forwarded their updated data to the DOH Central Office in Manila.
According to Tayag, there were already 453 reported cases of pertussis in the first 10 weeks of 2024—1,870 percent higher than the 23 pertussis cases in the same period last year. Of these cases, 35 infants had died.
Meanwhile, from September to March, more than 2,600 measles cases have been recorded, of which 1,400 were patients in BARMM alone.
According to the health ministry of BARMM, three children—two in Lanao del Sur and one in Sulu—had died of measles since the start of the year.
Vaccine shortage
In a statement on Monday night, the DOH said its Disease Prevention and Control Bureau, in coordination with its Procurement Service, was expecting an additional 3 million pentavalent (5-in-1) vaccine doses, which protect not only against pertussis but also against diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type B, and at least five million measles-rubella vaccine doses.
They are expected to arrive in the country “at the soonest possible time,” it said.
These would add to the more than 64,400 and 2.6 million doses of pentavalent and measles-rubella vaccines, respectively, already being distributed by the DOH.
The procurement came after some local governments complained of a shortage of pentavalent and MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccines provided by the DOH.
Race against time
According to Tayag, the rise of measles and pertussis cases—diseases that had been controlled and nearly eliminated in the past—was due to the low vaccination coverage of children since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns were implemented and children were not brought to their health centers for their routine immunization. When restrictions were lifted, some parents were still afraid to bring their children outside in fear of contracting COVID-19,” he explained.
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—far from the 90 percent target to protect the population from vaccine-preventable diseases.
The DOH urged local governments and other private institutions in the country to help in conducting “catch-up vaccinations” for children who missed their immunization shots.
Dosage misinformation
“We are asking our local governments if they can order their health centers down to the barangays to remain open even during the Holy Week to vaccinate their children,” Tayag said. “We are racing against time. Measles and pertussis are highly infectious diseases.”
In a televised briefing, Tayag said DOH officials were currently in BARMM to implement a “nonselective” immunization program against measles to contain the outbreak.
“We are currently vaccinating all children in BARMM, regardless if they have previously received an immunization shot or not,” he stressed. “We have to be quick in vaccinating and confirming to the parents of children if they have already been vaccinated or requiring a vaccination card will delay our massive vaccination campaign.”
He also allayed the fears of parents about a possible vaccine overdose.
“There is no such thing as overdose in vaccination. This is what is being explained now to the people in BARMM so they can fully understand it, and to address vaccine hesitancy among them,” Tayag stressed.
In Iloilo City, the local government has also intensified efforts to vaccinate children and newborns following the outbreak of pertussis.
The city aims to vaccinate 95 percent of the 26,000 children projected to be immunized in Arevalo, Jaro, and Molo districts.