MANILA--Department of Health
secretary Francisco Duque said on Saturday that estimated number of measles
cases in the country will lessen in the late April or early May.
"The
Department of Health is working side by side with other government agencies in
quickly responding to mitigate the measles outbreak," he said.
He
also estimated that around 12 to 13 million people should be vaccinated in the
next months.
Duque
led the vaccination program and talked to the mothers in Brgy. Addition Hills,
Mandaluyong where hundreds of parents bring their kids to have them vaccinated
for measles.
He
said that barangay health centers will be opened even on weekends to provide
rooms for children who need to get immunized.
DOH
was also seeking to vaccinate some 7 million children from kindergarten to
Grade 7.
Meanwhile,
unvaccinated pregnant women were also at risk during the first trimester of
their pregnancy cause it may result to miscarriage.
A
health expert explained that any non-immune person (who has not been vaccinated
or was vaccinated but did not develop immunity) can become infected.
As
of now, joint ask force were implemented by the DOH and DepEd (Department of
Education) to facilitate campaign on the immunization response in the different
parts of the country especially to children who were most vulnerable.
“This
government is conducting a massive information dissemination and immunization
campaign to encourage Filipinos to get vaccinated,” he said.
Duque
pointed well that vaccination remained the best defense against measles.
In
line with this, President Rodrigo Duterte called the public in a taped message
to have children vaccinated against measles.
"Mga
kababayan, dumadami ang kaso ng tigdas at ang komplikasyon nito ay pumatay. Sa
mga anak natin, bakuna lamang ang tanging paraan para makaiwas sa sakit na
ito." He said.
As
of the record of DOH, from January 1 to February 13 the overall measles cases
in the country totaled 6,921 and 115 of them died where mostly children.
Likewise, WHO (World Health
Organization) expounded that measles is a highly contagious, serious disease
caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family and it is normally passed through
direct contact and through the air. The virus infects the respiratory tract,
then spreads throughout the body. Measles is a human disease and is not known
to occur in animals.
Before the introduction of measles
vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred
approximately every 2–3 years and measles caused an estimated 2.6 million
deaths each year.
