BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The province of Negros Occidental continues to lead in the implementation of the “Chikiting Ligtas” vaccination drive in Western Visayas.
Dr. Girlie Pinongan, officer-in-charge of the Provincial Health Office (PHO), said the province inoculated 146,914 children or 68 percent of its target.
Himamaylan City is currently at the top of the list in the province for inoculating 93 percent of its target population.
There are 65,000 who remain unvaccinated, according to the PHO head, with the cities of San Carlos and Kabankalan lagging.
Earlier, Dr. Adriano Suba-an, Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 director, said they were surprised, noting that Negros Occidental has a low coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination turnout.
The measles-rubella and oral polio vaccine supplementary immunization activity, dubbed “Chikiting Ligtas”, is a nationwide supplemental immunization campaign of the DOH, the World Health Organization (WHO), and UNICEF against measles, rubella, and polio.
In coordination with local government units, DOH-6 targets vaccinating 660,054 children aged nine to 59 months against measles and rubella and 769,881 children aged zero to 59 months against polio during the month-long supplementary immunization activity from May 1 to 31.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease. Its virus is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth, or throat of infected persons.
Initial symptoms, which usually appear between 10 and 12 days after infection, include a high fever, a runny nose, bloodshot eyes, and tiny white spots on the inside of the mouth. Several days later, a rash develops, starting on the face and upper neck and gradually spreading downward.
Meanwhile, polio is an illness caused by a virus that mainly affects nerves in the spinal cord or brain stem, according to the Mayo Clinic. In its most severe form, polio can lead to a person being unable to move certain limbs or paralysis. It can also lead to troubled breathing and sometimes death. The disease is also called poliomyelitis.
Most people infected with the virus that causes polio, called poliovirus, don’t get symptoms. About five percent of people with the poliovirus get a mild version of the disease called abortive poliomyelitis. This leads to flu-like symptoms that last two to three days. These include fever, headache, muscle aches, sore throat, stomachache, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting./PN
