Laguna city under state of calamity due to pertussis

LAGUNA – Santa Rosa City in this province has been placed under a state of calamity after it recorded 15 cases of pertussis.

Mayor Arlene Arcillas and the local health office had recommended to the city council the declaration of a state of calamity, to speed up the release of funds and procurement of medicine and vaccines against pertussis.

City public information officer Aries Zapanta said that on April 3, the council passed a resolution placing Santa Rosa under a state of calamity.

Earlier, the city government declared an outbreak after cases of pertussis were recorded in five of 18 barangays in the city, including Dila, Market Area, Kaingin, Kanluran and Sinalhan.

An infant in Barangay Sinalhan was the first pertussis fatality recorded in Santa Rosa on Jan. 30.

“We detected the first case in January,” Zapanta told The STAR over the phone yesterday. “Monitoring showed the number of cases has increased, prompting the conduct of immediate house-to-house vaccination of children aged two years and below and pregnant women, particularly in barangays with recorded cases.”

Relatives of pertussis patients were also placed in isolation. The city government is providing them food and financial assistance.

There have been 48 recorded cases of pertussis and four fatalities in Laguna since January.

500,000 BARMM kids immunized vs measles

Meanwhile, about 500,000 children in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have been vaccinated against measles, according to the Department of Health.

DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa said the ongoing vaccination drive in BARMM would continue until the target to immunize 1.3 million children is reached.

The activity, a response to the measles outbreak in the region, started on April 1.

Herbosa said the vaccination will go on a two-day break tomorrow and Thursday for the observance of Eid’l Fitr.

From Sept. 10, 2023 to March 16, 2024, a total of 2,661 measles-rubella cases have been reported in the country. — Rhodina Villanuea