ROMPIN: A pertussis or whooping cough case involving a mother and her two children was reported at Kampung Bahagia in Kuala Rompin near here recently.
Pahang Health Department director Datuk Dr Nor Azimi Yunus said the three patients have been given treatment and are in stable condition.
"The case reported by the Rompin district health office (PKD) involved three individuals who are locals and they have been treated. The PKD has increased prevention and control measures in the area where the patients are living.
"The district health office has been organising health education activities through talks, distributing pamphlets and spreading information through social media," she said in a statement.
Dr Nor Azimi said whooping cough, or batuk kokol, is commonly spread by the Bordetella pertussis bacteria.
"The bacteria is spread through air when a patient sneezes or coughs, and will infect the mouth, nose and throat. The disease can infect people of all ages but infants and children who are not fully immunised are those with high risk.
"Those infected will endure a prolonged cough between one and two weeks, and can prolong until two months. Severe and prolonged cough can cause a patient to turn blue (cyanosis) due to shortness of breath
"Such health conditions can result in seizures because the oxygen supply to the brain has dropped. Severe complications include pneumonia (inflammation to the lungs), encephalopathy (inflammation of the brain) and death," she said.
She said pertussis is preventable through a complete immunisation provided to a child at the ages of two, three, five and 18 months.
"When a child who has completed all the doses for pertussis is infected with the bacteria, they will only have mild symptoms without risk of complications. Parents are advised to get complete pertussis immunisation for their children according to the given schedule and the services are available at government and private health facilities," she said.
Dr Nor Azimi said teenagers and adults who display symptoms of pertussis should practise good cough and sneezing etiquette including always covering the mouth when sneezing, and washing the hands after coughing to prevent from infecting others.
She was responding to a viral statement on social media declaring the pertussis epidemic at one locality - Kampung Bahagia - in Rompin on Aug 14.