Zamboanga City reports 3rd case of diphtheria
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Feb. 27 (PNA) -- The city has recorded its third case of diphtheria after the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) confirmed that another specimen referred to it has tested positive.
“We already have three positive cases (of diphtheria) in Zamboanga City,†Dr. Rodelin Agbulos, city health officer, told a press conference at City Hall on Monday.
Agbulos identified the third case as a five-year-old girl from Barangay Mampang here, who has been placed under quarantine and given proper medication.
The first two cases were from Barangay Cawit.
Agbulos attributed the incidence of diphtheria to the non-availability of vaccines in 2013 for children aged zero to five.
“It is not only in Zamboanga City that we see cases of diphtheria coming out. There have also been cases in Cagayan de Oro and General Santos cities. These are those children who failed and missed the vaccination during that year,†he said.
He disclosed that six more specimens have been sent to the RITM for confirmation, and three of them were from Barangay Mampang.
Meanwhile, he said they have completed the house-to-house vaccination of children in Barangay Cawit while that in Mampang will be completed on Tuesday.
He said children below five years old are given the Pentavalent vaccine to protect them from diphtheria, pertusis, tetanus, Hepatitis B, and Haemophilus Influenzae Type B.
Children who are more than five years old are given the Tetanus Diphtheria vaccine. (PNA)
CVL/TPGJR/R.G. ANTONET A. GO
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=85929.0