BACOLOD CITY – The City Health Office (CHO) has reported three new cases of pertussis or whooping cough here, bringing the total positive cases to six.
Dr. Maria Carmela Gensoli, city health officer, said the patients are all males, aged one-year-old, one-month-old, and two-months-old.
The additional cases were from Barangays Granada, Handumanan, and Tangub.
Despite this figure, Gensoli, in a press briefing on Monday, April 15, said there is no need to declare an outbreak because there has been no clustering of cases in this city.
The CHO recorded three positive cases in Barangays Taculing, Villamonte, and Tangub early this month.
“For now, we will not declare an outbreak because we have plans in those specific barangays,” Gensoli said as she stressed that pertussis is preventable and curable.
Gensoli said that all six patients have been discharged from hospitals.
Five suspected cases of pertussis yielded negative results and the CHO are awaiting the swab test results of the two other suspected cases.
When asked about the possibility of these cases to increase during the rainy season, Gensoli said that it is something to watch out for due to the change in weather. But she assured that the CHO is ready to help parents.
Gensoli said the city will purchase an additional 10,000 doses of vaccines worth P15 million which could inoculate more than 3,000 children.
She said the Bacolod Respiratory Outpatient (BRO) Center at the Bacolod Arts Youth and Sports (BAYS) Center in front of the public plaza is open from Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., for free swabbing.
Gensoli advised parents to avoid exposing children, especially infants, in crowded places to prevent them from acquiring any illness.
She said that hospitals here are ready to cater pertussis cases.