Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan said on Thursday, April 4, that there is no need to declare a pertussis outbreak in Manila after confirming eight cases of whooping cough in the city.

During her social media address, The Capital Report, Lacuna-Pangan said that there were only eight confirmed cases over 11 reported probable pertussis cases in the city from January 1 to March 23. 

She said that the city is way luckier compared to other cities, which have higher cases of the disease.

“Masuwerte po tayo rito sa lungsod ng Maynila dahil iilan lamang po ang kaso ng pertussis dito… kung ikukumpara po natin ‘yan sa mga ibang lugar, mababa pa po ‘yan kaya hindi po natin kailangang magdeklara ng outbreak dito sa ating lungsod (We are lucky here in the city because there are only a few cases of pertussis here... if we compare that to other places, it is still low, so we do not need to declare an outbreak here in our city),” the mayor said.

She said that all the cases in the city have already recovered, and most of them are babies aged two to six months old and one to four years old. 

She added that most of those who had pertussis were from the barangays of District 5 in Manila. 

Also, the mayor said that most of them are teens and baby boys. 

Furthermore, she encouraged everyone to avail of the pertussis vaccine, as she stressed that all of the reported cases in the city were unvaccinated.

The pertussis vaccine can be obtained from the city's health centers and hospitals.

“Bakit po paulit-ulit kong sinasabi walang bakuna? (ang mga nagka-pertussis) kase mayroon namang available na bakuna. Saan po ‘tong mga bakuna na ‘to makikita, matatagpuan, o maa-avail? Sa ating pong 44 na health centers at sa atin pong anim na ospital na pag-aari ng lungsod ng Maynila. Sa mga private hospitals meron din pong bakuna (Why do I keep saying that those who got pertussis had no vaccine? because there is a vaccine. They can avail of the pertussis vaccine in the city's 44 health centers and six hospitals owned by the city. They can also receive the vaccine in private hospitals),” Lacuna said. 

Mayor Honey said that the vaccine for pertussis is called DPT, which fights three infectious diseases in humans: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus (lockjaw).