San Juan conducts pertussis vaccination

MANILA, Philippines — San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora led a meeting yesterday to address the rising cases of pertussis or “whooping cough” in the National Capital Region.

Zamora said the initiative aims to educate residents and barangay officials about the importance of routine immunization, which is given free in government health centers.

Children aged 0 to 23 months were administered vaccines against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and HiB or haemophilus influenza type B.

The city government launched the vaccination drive in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH) to prevent the spread of pertussis, especially among infants.

As of March 16, the DOH had recorded 111 cases of pertussis in Metro Manila.

“Last year, there were only two cases in Metro Manila,” Dr. Manuel Mapue II, head of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the DOH’s Metro Manila Center for Health Development, said.

“If we compare it to the last five years, there is an increase of 900 times in Metro Manila. In San Juan, there were only two cases this year,” Mapue added.