PALO, Leyte — The Department of Health in Eastern Visayas is urging the municipal health offices to step up the vaccination drive amid an alarming surge in pertussis cases in the region.

“This is a public health challenge and we need to work together to control the further spread,” Dr. Jean Marie Egargo, chief of the health promotions unit at DoH-8, said.

Records from the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) of DoH-8 showed 31 cases being reported as of 5 April, with more than half logged from the last week of March to the present.

“Technically, we are seeing a surge of cases in the region,” says RESU unit head Boyd Roderick Cerro, noting that no cases were recorded over the same period last year.

Egargo added that one case of pertussis in Leyte has been confirmed based on laboratory tests, while 30 are suspected cases.

Pertussis is suspected when a patient experiences coughing for at least two weeks, vomiting and apnea.

Out of the 31 cases, 18 involved infants below one-year-old, while 13 are below six months old. Of the cases, 19 were recorded in Leyte, four in Tacloban City, six in Eastern Samar, and two in Southern Leyte.

Up until 3 April, RESU recorded 16 pertussis cases in the whole region. Of the first 16 patients, only two were fully immunized, three were partially immunized and 11 were not immunized at all.

Of the patients, 14 were brought to hospitals for treatment.

“Our communities are vulnerable considering the low immunization rate,” says Egargo. “I ask all the rural health units and municipal health offices to step up the vaccination, not only against pertussis, but for all vaccine-preventable diseases. We are way below the target.”