A two-month-old female twins from Legazpi City, who are in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a government hospital, and three other children from Tabaco City are being closely monitored by public health authorities in Albay for possible cases of ‘pertussis’ or whooping cough.
This is according to the Provincial Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of Albay Provincial Health Office (PHO-PESU).
The two-month-old female twins in Tabaco City were still in the hospital. The other patients, a nine-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl, were under home isolation.
PESU Coordinator Jan Edmund Dominic Bailon stressed the patients have been tested. The results will be out within the week. As of this posting, there is still no confirmatory notice of pertussis infection in Albay Province.
Only one of the five patients, the 9-year-old boy, is vaccinated against pertussis as declared by the mother of the boy, according to Bailon.
Mother’s appeal for help
Of the five patients, the infant twins were suffering the most, based on the social media posts of the mother, who is appealing for help.
She said it is not easy watching her babies suffer, coughing hardly while being administered with salbutamol and other prescriptions at the ICU (intensive care unit).
The mother noticed that the stomach of one of her twins started to bloat because of severe dry cough. The infant also had difficulty breathing despite having an oxygen supply.
The Manila Standard learned that prior to the Holy Week, the twins were brought for checkup to the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center (BRHMC) and were advised to go home.
The family along with the twins traveled to Sorsogon for the holidays, but the babies’ condition worsened. They were rushed to the nearest hospital and were admitted to the ICU.
The babies exhibited symptoms of pertussis, but the official diagnosis remains to be seen pending clinical and confirmatory test results.
PESU assured they are closely monitoring the situation.