PALO, Leyte — Eastern Visayas (EV) recorded its third death due to pertussis as cases continue to rise while vaccines to fight the infection remain unavailable.

The Department of Health (DoH) regional office issued an advisory reminding the public to observe the minimum public health standard when in public places.

The DoH-8 reported on Tuesday that 167 pertussis cases have already been reported throughout Eastern Visayas as of 11 May 2024 with three deaths.

The latest casualty is a three-month-old baby boy from Dolores, Eastern Samar who died last 30 April. The boy was not tested positive of pertussis but showed symptoms of infection such as violent and rapid coughing, difficulty in breathing and fever.

All the three casualties of pertussis in Eastern Visayas were never vaccinated against the disease.

DoH-8 earlier stated that the pentavalent vaccine, which fights pertussis and five other illnesses will be available in July.

Of the 167 cases logged at DoH-8, 25 of them are confirmed cases based on laboratory tests conducted at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) while the 142 were patients that were showing symptoms of pertussis infection.

DoH-8 data also reveals that 76 of these patients or 45 percent are infants below one-year-old.

Among the provinces and independent cities in Eastern Visayas, Leyte province recorded the highest number of cases with 101, Tacloban City and Northern Samar with 19 each, 12 cases in Samar, 11 in Eastern Samar, three in Southern Leyte, and one each in Ormoc City and Biliran province.