No new measles strain in PH, says DOH

MANILA—The high incidence of measles in several parts of the country is not caused by a new strain of the disease, the Department of Health said Friday.

“There is no new strain of measles,” said Health Undersecretary Ted Herbosa, citing a report made by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

“The virus spreading right now is not caused by a new strain; that has already been confirmed. It means the vaccine that the DOH purchases and has been giving to the public remains effective because it’s [fighting] the same strain,” he said in a TV interview.

The DOH earlier said that migrants from typhoon-ravaged areas and children who were not vaccinated could be among the causes of the measles upsurge in Metro Manila.

“Many victims of Supertyphoon ‘Yolanda’ came to Metro Manila. They may have lacked anti-measles shots or not have been vaccinated at all. But we are not pinning the blame on the calamity victims,” said Health Assistant Secretary Dr. Eric Tayag.

Apart from migration, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said, another possible cause for the upsurge might be the failure of some parents to have their children vaccinated against measles or to complete the schedule of shots.

“Some even refuse to have their children vaccinated for some reason,” Ona said, adding that measles vaccines were readily available for free at local health centers.

A total of 1,724 cases of measles have been reported nationwide, including 21 deaths.

The DOH is to launch in September a nationwide mass vaccination campaign to eliminate measles in the country.

Meanwhile, the Philippine College of Physicians and Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases urged private practitioners and hospitals to be more active in reporting cases to provide an accurate picture of the extent of the problem to enable the authorities to take appropriate actions.

The Philippine Pediatric Society and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines also expressed serious concern about the increasing cases of measles, considering that measles is a highly preventable disease.

A report from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine said there were 500 laboratory-confirmed measles cases in November and 482 in December last year.

“As pediatricians and pediatric infectious disease specialists who are in the front lines of the battle against childhood diseases especially vaccine-preventable diseases, this situation is unacceptable. This is a time that calls for cooperation by every Filipino. Vaccines are available and highly effective and safe. Let us all work with the government and increase our vaccination coverage,” said Dr. Beatriz Quiambao, PIDSP president.