The city government of Davao, through the City Health Office, has renewed its campaign for vaccination against measles following the current outbreak happening in Luzon and the Visayas.
Dr. Josephine Villafuerte, the CHO head, said that Davao City does not have an outbreak, but urged the public to be vaccinated for their own protection.
“When one in the family has measles, everyone will get measles so we are urging the public, especially those who have not been immunized, to go to their health centers to get vaccinated,” Villafuerte said.
She said that the vaccine is free-of-charge and there are enough vaccines for everyone.
“All of the health centers in Davao are offering measles immunization for children, even those out of the target age. We even give vaccines to adults and institutions and offices,” she added.
Villafuerte also revealed that cases of measles in Davao City went down in January this year compared to the same period last year.
“As of February 4 this year, we have recorded only 45 cases of measles in Davao City. It has significantly dropped considering that January last year, we had 141 cases,” she said.
The CHO head also emphasized that the vaccines are proven and tested to be safe.
“We have been using the measles vaccine for a long time, so it’s already been proven safe and effective,” Villafuerte said.
The Department of Health announced a measles outbreak in Luzon and Visayas with 1,500 cases and 26 deaths as of Friday.
Measles is a disease that comes from the rubeola virus and commonly affects children aged 6 months up to 12 years old. Its symptoms include high fever, cough and colds, swollen eyes and red rashes all over the body. CIO
