DARK ALLEY Patients crowd the pediatricward of San Lazaro Hospital in Manila following a
measles outbreak. INQUIRER file photo / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — In less than three months, over 21,000 measles cases have been recorded across the country, with 315 fatalities, the Department of Health (DOH) reported.
In the latest DOH Epidemiology Bureau report, a total of 21,396 measles were recorded from January 1 to March 14, 2019, with 315 people dead after contracting the disease.
Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon (Calabarzon) recorded the highest number of measles cases and death, with 4,401 and 87, respectively.
This was followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) with 4,266 cases and 85 deaths.
The DOH noted that the most affected age group was between one and four years old with 6,180 cases (29 percent) and 142 deaths (45 percent), followed by patients less than nine months old with 5,432 cases (25 percent), with 122 deaths (39 percent).
The health department also noted that 12,756 persons or 60 percent of those who contracted the airborne disease, as well as 245 persons or 78 percent of those who have died, had not been vaccinated.
In early February, the DOH earlier said a measles outbreak in Metro Manila and parts of Central Luzon and Central Visayas as the number of cases sharply rose in those areas.
It also raised a “red flag” health alert status in Bicol due to a surge in measles cases in the region. /jpv
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