By Junex Doronio
MANILA — The age-old adage that says “prevention is better than cure” must have driven the (DOH) to be proactive as it was able to inoculate 8,164,031 or 84 percent of the target population when it conducted a Measles-Rubella-bivalent Oral Polio vaccine supplemental immunization activity (MR-OPV SIA) from May to June this year.
DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa has stressed that measles and rubella cases can be prevented through vaccines and that most cases recover but still the disease can also be fatal.
“Iyong measles, self-limiting. They usually recover. But because the immune system of the kid is mababa, napapasukan sila ng bacterial pneumonia. Again, this is a respiratory illness. Doon sila namamatay, broncho-pneumonia, which is usually bacterial. So opportunistic iyan, dahil nagka-measles sila, mahina ang katawan tapos dadapuan ng second illness,” Herbosa said in a recent press conference.
The DOH announced that the campaign targeted 9 to 59-month-old children to have at least one dose of the measles and rubella vaccine, in a bid to allay an “impending risk of a measles outbreak”.
“However, to achieve quality SIA (supplemental immunization activity), the target is at least 90% of the target population. Partial unofficial data on the coverage for two doses of Measles-containing vaccine as of September 2023 is at 45.52%,” the DOH told reporters.
It further explained that measles and rubella cases are “showing a steady uptrend with cases in the recent three to four weeks (October 29 to November 11) 6 percent higher”.
“Additionally, 442 cases were reported in the recent four weeks. At the regional level, Regions I, IV-A, and IX showed a continuous increase in the recent six-week period (October 15 to November 25), while NCR, Regions III, V, XI, XII, and BARMM showed case increases in the recent 3-4 or 1-2 weeks, reporting 2 to 253 new cases in the recent four weeks,” the DOH disclosed.
(IAmigo/MNM)