THE Cagayan de Oro City Health Office (CHO) is urging parents not to refuse immunization for their kids, as it recorded three deaths and 38 confirmed cases of measles only this month.
City Health Officer Dr. Fe Bongcas said there was low rate of immunization last year because of the dengvaxia controversy, a dengue vaccine feared by parents after a study said this may put some people at an increased risk of a more severe form of dengue.
“Because of the dengvaxia issue, people were scared to get vaccinated so now we have an increased number of measles cases,” Bongcas said.
Two of the three who died were infants, the first one was only one year and three months old while the other was only eight months old.
According to their surveillance, a three-month-old child is already infected with the measles virus.
The CHO said they recorded the most number of measles cases in barangays Carmen, Lapasan, Cugman, and Balulang.
“Kung nagpa-immunize pa sila last year, wala unta ni karon, ila pud ng sala kay dili man sila magpa immunize and they have the right to refuse. But now, we really do house to house visits to make the public understand the necessity of our vaccines,” she added.
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the measles virus. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes.
Bongcas said when a child is nine months old, he or she needs to get the vaccination.
Although there is an increase of cases, Bongcas said this is not considered an outbreak.
“Not outbreak kay sporadic raman ni siya, it's alarming kay we don't want nga naay mag measles because this can be prevented. Before zero gyud karon lang gyud ni because of refusal,” she added.