DOH: 40 child deaths due to pertussis logged so far this year

MANILA, Philippines —Forty children have died of whooping cough — a respiratory

infection also called pertussis — as of March 16 this year, Assistant Health Secretary Albert
Domingo reported on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Department of Health said that it had observed an increase in new
pertussis cases nationwide, with 28 cases reported from March 10 to 16.

This brings the total number of cases to 568 from January 1 to March 16.
“The total number of cases for the same time period in 2023 was only 26, making this
year’s tally to date more than 20 times from that of last year,” the DOH said.
Of the total recorded pertussis cases, 356 — or 62.7 percent — were infants below six
months old, the DOH added.

Among these infants, 270 — or 75.8 percent — were either unvaccinated or had an
unknown vaccination history, while 384 or 67.6 percent of the total number of cases
regardless of age were under similar conditions.

The number of new pertussis cases increased from 122 in the first two weeks of
February to 149 in the next two weeks of the same month.

According to the DOH, new cases logged in the weeks starting March 3 and March 10
have gone down to only 73, but it remained cautious in interpreting the trend as the
“number of cases may still change as there may be late consultations and reports.”

“Regions with the most number of local government units showing case increases
thus far are Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Metro Manila, Western
Visayas, Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) and Central Visayas. Metro
Manila accounted for 27 percent (58 cases) of the total confirmed cases among all regions,”
DOH statement added.