DoH declares measles outbreak in Metro Manila
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2019 13:12:09 +0000
The Department of Health on Wednesday declared a measles outbreak in the National Capital Region.
“Yes. There is an outbreak of measles here in NCR, I would say,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
The Health chief declared an outbreak following the number of measles cases recorded at the San Lazaro Hospital in Sta. Cruz, Manila, which specializes in infectious and communicable diseases.
According to the Epidemiology Department of the San Lazaro Hospital, 1,504 patients were admitted and 55 have died from measles from Jan. 1 to Feb. 5.
Duque said that the increase in measles cases is due the low vaccine coverage caused by the Dengvaxia vaccine controversy. “Of course, that is always the cause of loss of vaccine confidence and trust of our people in the immunization program,” said Duque.
The Health chief said that the confidence level in vaccines went down to 32 to 33 percent, based on the study conducted by The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Duque reiterated that measles is a vaccine-preventable disease and that the measles vaccine has been proven safe and effective. “It is free. It has been proven safe, of quality, it is World Health Organization pre-qualified. So, there is really no reason why the parents are not bringing their children to the health centers for the scheduled immunization,” he said. (Analou de Vera)