Measles death toll now 215
Credit to Author: CATHERINE A. MODESTO| Date: Sun, 03 Mar 2019 17:05:24 +0000
Around 215 people have died of measles, as the number of cases continued to rise to more than 13,000, according to data of the Department of Health (DoH.) From January 1 to February 26, the department’s epidemiology bureau has recorded 13,723 measles cases, 62 percent of which had no prior history of vaccination.
From February 25 to February 26 alone, the bureau said it received and validated 251 cases of the highly infectious, but vaccine-preventable disease.
This figure was higher than the 3,065 reported in the same period in 2018.
Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) was the region with the most number of cases at 3,234 and 68 deaths, the DoH said.
It was followed by Metro Manila (National Capital Region) with 3,068 and 57 fatalities; Central Luzon with 2,010 cases and 30 deaths; Northern Mindanao with 679 cases and four deaths; Western Visayas with 671 cases and three deaths; Eastern Visayas with 668 cases and 19 deaths; Central Visayas with 508 cases and five deaths; Mimaropa (Mindoro Occidental and Mindoro Oriental, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) also with 508 cases and six deaths; Ilocos with 440 cases and nine deaths; Bicol with 362 cases and five deaths; Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato Province, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos) with 326 cases and one death; Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with 305 cases and three deaths; Caraga with 261 cases and one death; Davao with 251 cases and three deaths; Cordillera Administrative Region cases with 166 cases and zero deaths; Zamboanga Peninsula with 140 cases and zero deaths; and Cagayan Valley with 126 cases and one death.
Of those who died, 82 percent were not vaccinated.
Measles affected children from less than nine months to four years old the most.
It has been almost a month since the DoH declared a measles outbreak in some regions in the country.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd as well as President Rodrigo Duterte have repeatedly asked parents to have their children protected against measles and other curable diseases through clinically proven vaccines.
Duque said vaccination remained the best defense against measles.
He added that he expected the measles cases to soar because the outbreaks had not been contained yet.
Government health workers have been deployed in the field to go house-to-house in communities of affected regions to urge parents to have their children vaccinated.
World Health Organization data showed that some 2.6 million Filipinos, mostly children below five years old, were unvaccinated.
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