Rise in measles cases in Eastern Visayas alarms DOH

TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Health in Eastern Visayas (DOH-8) has expressed alarm over the rise in the number of patients afflicted with measles.

The department recorded at least eight deaths due to measles just this week.

Most of the fatalities were babies aged six months to nine months.

Cases of measles in Eastern Visayas from January to Feb. 6 reached 161, said John Paul Roca, DOH-8 information officer.

The health department recorded only two measles cases with no death during the same period last year.

At least 241 cases of measles with five deaths were reported in the region composed of Biliran, Southern Leyte, Leyte, Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar for the entire 2017.

“This (measles cases) is really alarming. This is preventable which could not lead to death,” Roca said.

Parents didn’t want to have their children vaccinated in any government-supervised vaccination following the Dengvaxia controversy.

The anti-dengue vaccine was blamed for the death of some children who received it, said Roca.

Based on DOH-8 records, the eight fatalities were from the towns of Palo, Leyte (4); Tacloban City (2) and one each from the towns of Pastrana, Leyte and Gandara, Samar.

Roca said that while the number of measles cases in the region had shot up to almost 1,000 percent, they were not yet declaring an outbreak.

“We don’t have clustering of cases of measles in the region and it’s still manageable,” he said.

Still, the DOH was appealing to the parents not to be carried away by the Dengvaxia scare. /lzb