ILOILO City – Five months before declaring a dengue outbreak in Western Visayas in July, the Department of Health (DOH) declared a measles epidemic in the region in February. With new suspected measles cases recorded, it has reminded people once again about the highly contagious viral disease even as they grapple with dengue.
Some municipalities continue to record new measles cases so DOH is not yet lifting its measles outbreak declaration.
According to Dr. Mary Jane Juanico, Child Health Program medical coordinator of DOH Region 6, the 19 new suspected cases were reported in just one week (Aug. 20-26), bringing the total cases since Jan. 1 to 2,807, with eight deaths.
The measles virus is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons.
DOH-6 bared the following data:
* Iloilo province – 840 cases
* Negros Occidental – 803 cases with five deaths
* Antique – 358 cases with one death
* Bacolod City – 216 cases
* Capiz – 196 cases with two deaths
* Aklan – 169 cases
* Iloilo City – 156 cases
* Guimaras – 34 cases
* others – 35 cases (diagnosed in the region but contracted outside)
Meanwhile, dengue cases in the region are on the decline but remain above the epidemic threshold. DOH-6 senior program health officer Josef Alexander Denila said that from morbidity week (MW) 28 in the second week of July to MW 29, cases began to decline by about five percent from 4,466 to 4,250, and further to 3,912 in the following week.
“We peaked at morbidity week 29 and from there, we started to decline,” he said, noting that cases in Aklan started to plateau.
Those in Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, and Negros Occidental were declining, while those in Iloilo province and Iloilo City were also on a downward trend but remained erratic.
Guimaras still had the highest attack rate and with the highest increase in cases.
Cumulative date from Jan. 1 to Aug. 10 showed the region had 36,117 dengue cases with 164 deaths, marking a 362 percent increase from the 7,819 cases and 57 deaths in the same period last year.
On the other hand, the current measles cases were 845 percent higher than those recorded from January to August 2018 (297 cases, no deaths), according to Juanico.
Most of the measles patients were children less than nine months old (529) and between one to five years old (510).
DOH-6 data also showed that 1,278 (or 45.53 percent) of the cases had not been immunized against measles while 539 (or 19.20 percent) had “unknown immunization status.”
Therefore, according to Juanico, “Indi kita magkampante.”
“Sa mga inadlaw nga nagahilanat ang pasyente or kabataan, magpakonsulta dayun,” she stressed.
Initial symptoms, which usually appear between 10 to 12 days after infection, include 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 downwards.
Juanico underscored the importance of proper nutrition to boost the body’s immune system.
“Especially sa mga bata, if there is proper nutrition makabato gid ang lawas sa masakit,” she said.
Juanico urged parents to have their children immunized against measles in rural health units.
This is free, she clarified.
The measles outbreak could be due to the low coverage of DOH’s measles immunization program in Region 6 last year. Public support to the program dipped due to the Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine controversy.
The measles vaccine has been in use since the 1960s. It is safe, effective and inexpensive, according to the World Health Organization. It recommends immunization for all susceptible children and adults for whom measles vaccination is not contraindicated./PN
