The Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed that all 54 recorded deaths from pertussis in the Philippines between January and March were children less than five years old.
Health Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Albert Domingo said data from January 1 to March 30 revealed a total of 1,112 pertussis cases this year so far, with a majority or 77 percent of the cases being children aged below five.
Meanwhile, adults aged 20 and older account for only an estimated four percent of cases.
Eastern Visayas, Cagayan Valley, CARAGA, Central Luzon, and the Cordillera Autonomous Region all showed a continuous increase in cases in the past six weeks.
The Department of Health (DOH), however, is cautious in interpreting trends.
The DOH said the number of cases may still change due to late consultations and reports. Additionally, the effects of increasing immunization efforts might not reflect in the data until four to six weeks later.
The department has since assured the public that outbreak response immunization is underway, with the government replenishing vaccines while private stocks of pentavalent and TDaP vaccines are available.
Although national government pentavalent (“5-in-1”) vaccine stocks are running low at a reported 64,400 doses as of March 25, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa has since ordered that other options like Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (DTP) be used to prevent gaps ahead of the new batch of 3 million pentavalent vaccines.
“We anticipate a shortage in government pentavalent vaccine supply by May, and this is the gap we are now addressing… We will welcome any offers of support and assistance from our private sector partners,” Herbosa said.