PETALING JAYA: Babies under a year old made up the majority of cases of pertussis or whooping cough reported in the country.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan said from Jan 1 until Saturday (Aug 19), there were 329 cases of whooping cough and 23 deaths reported nationwide.
He said 219 or 66.6% of the cases comprised locals while the rest were foreigners.
Muhammad Radzi said in a statement on Tuesday (Aug 22) that 57.4% or the majority of cases involved babies under a year old while children aged between one and 10 made up to 28.6%.
He said cases remain under control and were lower compared to the same period in 2019 when 697 cases were recorded prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Muhammad Radzi said Sabah reported the most cases at 181, followed by Selangor (51), and Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (15 each).
He said although the disease was under control, the Health Ministry would continue to be on the alert and take all necessary steps to ensure it did not become a worrying health problem.
Muhammad Radzi said the ministry's current priority was to ensure that more than 95% of children, especially babies who were vulnerable to the disease, were immunised.
The disease, which spreads by airborne transmission, was caused by Bordetella pertussis bacteria and could be prevented with vaccination.
