Measles is preventable

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The Department of Health has declared a potentially deadly measles outbreak in several districts in at least nine cities in Metro Manila. The outbreak was declared over the weekend in areas of Manila, Caloocan City, Las Piñas, Malabon, Alabang, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Taguig and Valenzuela after records from the DOH National Epidemiology Center showed that there were 1,724 measles cases, including 21 deaths from January 1 to December 14, 2013, mostly in Metro Manila.

The highly contagious nature of the disease has led  the DOH to embark  on a massive measles vaccination drive in Metro Manila. Assistant Health Secretary Eric Tayag warns that a single measles case can infect up to 18 other individuals, as the virus can survive to infect unvaccinated people up to two hours after the host has left the room.

Health officials are pushing for a door-to-door vaccination program to protect the public, especially children, pregnant mothers and immuno-comprised individuals from measles.  Most of those infected can easily recover from measles but complications from the illness such as pneumonia, acute diarrhea or acute encephalitis, give it the potential to turn deadly.

For the DOH to meet its target of eliminating measles by 2017, it needs to achieve a vaccine coverage of at least 95 percent in every district of the country. While the official declaration of a measles outbreak underlines the importance of sustaining vaccination drives and gives us an idea of why those campaigns are so important, especially in crowded cities where a highly contagious disease can easily spread, the DOH believes that they can still meet that target.

As the DOH focuses on containing the measles outbreak in Metro Manila and the National Capital Region, our local DOH units and health practitioners should also be on the alert to prevent the outbreak from spilling over, as well as to follow through on the vaccination drive to ensure that this contagious but preventable disease that sadly remains one of the leading causes of vaccine-preventable childhood mortality, can finally be eradicated.*