{"id":1225,"date":"2025-01-15T01:48:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T01:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/?p=1225"},"modified":"2025-01-14T09:49:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T09:49:34","slug":"1225","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/?p=1225","title":{"rendered":"Samoa- whooping cough on the rise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tusi Tala <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whooping cough cases continue to be reported in Samoa, with a total of 321 cases documented from September to January 5. The Ministry of Health has confirmed 17 of these cases, noting that four involved individuals with incomplete vaccinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The vaccination status for the other confirmed cases is being investigated,&#8221; stated the Ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of all reported cases, 38% have required hospitalization, with 101 of the cases affecting infants under 12 months. The majority of cases are concentrated in Upolu. A whooping cough outbreak was declared in November of the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ministry has issued an alert to clinicians, urging them to stay vigilant for symptoms of whooping cough, also known as pertussis. &#8220;Investigations and contact tracing for all suspected pertussis cases are currently underway, along with sample collection for testing,&#8221; they added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, the Risk Communication and Community Engagement Committee is actively promoting awareness about prevention and vaccination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a related note, Te Marae Ora, the Ministry of Health in the Cook Islands, has issued a statement regarding human metapneumovirus (hMPV), indicating that the risk to the Cook Islands remains low. Although Chinese authorities began warning about hMPV in 2023, media reports suggest a potential increase in cases during China&#8217;s winter season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For most individuals, hMPV causes symptoms akin to a cold or flu, but it can lead to severe infections in rare instances. Te Marae Ora continues to monitor influenza-like illnesses and severe acute respiratory infections through weekly surveillance. &#8220;Travelers to high-risk countries should take precautions and consult a doctor if they feel unwell,&#8221; the Ministry advised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tusi Tala Whooping cough cases continue to be reported in Samoa, with a total of 321 cases documented from September to January 5. The Ministry of Health has confirmed 17 of these cases, noting that four involved individuals with incomplete vaccinations. &#8220;The vaccination status for the other confirmed cases is being investigated,&#8221; stated the Ministry&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-samoa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1225"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1228,"href":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1225\/revisions\/1228"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificislands.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}