INQUIRER FILES
LEGAZPI CITY — The Albay Provincial Health Office – Provincial Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (PHO-PESU) said in an advisory Tuesday, April 2, that they have recorded five “suspected” cases of pertussis or whooping cough in the cities of Legazpi and Tabaco.
Albay PHO-PESU coordinator Jan Edmund Dominic Bailon said in the public advisory that as of 3:25 p.m. Tuesday, there is still no confirmatory notice of pertussis infection and the information that the cases are considered “confirmed” were false.
Bailon said the five suspected patients from Tabaco (3) and Legazpi (2) cities are still awaiting the results of further tests done for confirmation.
READ: Whooping cough: It’s not just a cough
The Department of Health (DOH) and other health experts warned the public against spreading “fake news” that could cause unnecessary panic to the public in violation of the Republic Act 11332 or the “Law on Reporting of Communicable Diseases”.
Any person or entity who violates the act may face a fine of P20,000 to P50,000 and/or imprisonment of up to six months.
From March 10 to 16, 28 new cases have been reported, bringing the total number of cases to 568 accumulated from January 1 to March 16.
The report also said 40 pertussis deaths were recorded. The total number of cases, so far, this year is 20 times more than that of previous year (only 26 cases during the same period in 2023).
In a recent public announcement by DOH-Bicol Center for Health Development (CHD), the regions of Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), National Capital Region (NCR), Western Visayas, Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan), Central Visayas, and Western Visayas have the highest number of local government units exhibiting increase of cases on pertussis.