The Department of Health (DOH) in Negros Oriental has allayed public concern over the measles outbreak in some areas in the province, saying that it is not alarming.
Dr. Socrates Villamor, provincial chief of the DOH-Negros Oriental, explained that the measles cases reported since January this year are minimal but because of the government’s efforts to make the Philippines measles-free, even a single “laboratory-confirmed” case of measles can already be considered an outbreak.
Latest available records from the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) of the DOH here showed that a total of 21 measles cases have been reported in one city and six municipalities in the province.
Of the number, 12 are suspect cases and nine are laboratory-confirmed cases in these areas that have now been declared under a state of “measles outbreak.”
The measles cases are reported in the provincial capital, Dumaguete City, and in the towns of Bacong, Mabinay, Sta. Catalina, San Jose, Siaton and Valencia.
Dumaguete City had the highest number of cases with seven suspect and two laboratory-confirmed cases.
According to Dr. Villamor, the confirmed measles cases this year were in adults, and the incidents are sporadic and not clustered, “although we are still trying to get some more data,” Dr. Villamor stressed.
“What is important for us is that we want to cut the transmission (of the measles virus) as much as possible” especially to children below five years old, he said.
There is a possibility that those afflicted with measles may not have been immunized when they were children or their immunization status is incomplete, the DOH official said.
Measles is a viral infection transmitted through secretions, when people come in contact with those infected with the virus, and therefore it is important for people to pay attention to hygiene and to avoid crowded places, Dr. Villamor added.
Washing of hands regularly can also be a preventive measure against contracting measles, the doctor stressed.
The DOH in the province is now determining what they call the index case so they can investigate further the measles outbreak and see where it started, Villamor disclosed.
Meanwhile, the provincial chief of the Department of Health (DOH) in Negros Oriental is urging parents to avail of the government’s free anti-measles immunization amid an outbreak of the contagious viral infection in some parts of the province.
Some Rural Health Units (RHU) have already started Tuesday and others on Wednesday the “outbreak immunization response” in the affected areas.
The health workers will be going on a house-to-house visit to administer for free the anti-measles vaccine for children who have not been immunized or who have not received the full dose of immunization for measles, according to Dr. Villamor.
The DOH provincial chief explained that the government is continuing its measles immunization program even though cases have been drastically reduced and even eliminated in certain areas over the past years as part of the government’s desire to make the Philippines measles-free.
The measles containing vaccine is part of routine immunization for children at a very early stage, the doctor said.
Dr. Villamor explained that routine immunization for children consists of a first dose of the MR (measles-rubella) vaccine administered at nine months old, and the second dose, the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine is given at 12 to 15 months old.
To have protection against measles, a child/person must have received the two doses, he further explained.
The most vulnerable to measles are children aged five and below, Villamor said.
The recent cases of measles in Negros Oriental, however, have affected adults, with the youngest patient around 18 years old, he pointed out.
Dr. Villamor believes that the adults may not have received or completed the anti-measles containment vaccines. (Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)
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