A TOTAL of five deaths due to measles were recorded in Davao City during the first three months of this year.
Data from the City Health Office (CHO) from January to March 9, cases of three children below one year old were recorded in Bunawan District.
CHO technical division chief Julinda Acosta said there is still no reason for the city to declare a measles outbreak as the number of cases dropped by 57 percent to 185 as of March 9, 2019 compared to 433 in the same period of 2018.
"Since the measles outbreak in Manila were all over the news, many parents let their kids vaccinated. Even adults for that matter," Acosta said on Monday, March 11.
She also said health centers, especially in the Bunawan area, where majority of the deaths were recorded, had more parents wanting to have their children immunized.
Acosta said the office's intense campaign and outreach immunization clinics in different centers and malls also contributed to the large coverage of the immunization, reaching more than 50,000 children from ages six months to four years old.
“Out of the 14,100 vaccination vials that were distributed to us, 80 percent of it was already used,” she said.
In a previous report, the health officer targets to increase coverage to 95 percent of all children in the city this year from 86.6 percent in 2018.
However, Acosta said the CHO needs additional manpower to cater to all children, especially in the Poblacion district.
“We would like that the figures would regress before the year ends. I’m so positive that we would attain a higher coverage, since we slowly won the trust of the people,” she said.