Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 2) – The Department of Health office in Bicol has sounded an alarm over the increase in diphtheria deaths in the region.
Dr. Monrey Isaiah Mancilla, DOH-Bicol’s immunization program coordinator, said it recorded 10 cases, including five deaths, of diphtheria – an infectious disease affecting the throat and the upper respiratory tract – from January to September of this year. There were 10 cases with two deaths in the same period last year, Mancilla said.
The health official said that the cases were reported in the provinces of Camarines Sur, Albay and Masbate.
Mancilla then reiterated health experts’ call to parents to have their kids immunized against the vaccine-preventable disease as well as follow the vaccination schedule to prevent contracting it.
Diphtheria is the latest infectious disease that has emerged in parts of the Philippines, highlighting the importance of immunization. If it is not detected early, the illness can damage the heart, kidneys and nervous system, which may eventually lead to death.
It could be spread usually in the form of droplets in the air from coughing or sneezing. But the disease can be prevented through immunization.
The DOH has recorded a slight rise in the number of diphtheria cases as of September 7, 2019.
But officials said this increase is neither ‘threatening’ nor alarming.
The World Health Organization said that infants must receive three doses of diphtheria vaccine – at ages 6 weeks, 10 weeks, and 14 weeks. Three more booster doses could be given at ages 12 to 23 months, 4 to 7 years old, and 9 to 15 years old.
The current immunization rate against diphtheria is 79 percent of all children five years old and under, below the national target of 95 percent.
CNN Philippines’ Rosas Olarte contributed to this report.
