ADULTS who have not been vaccinated or who have incomplete vaccines need the anti-measles vaccine, too, the Department of Health (DOH) 7 said.
Health officials recommended the vaccine for adults and children who are six to 59 months old. The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines are available for free in public health units.
The vaccine is also available for free at the DOH 7 vaccination post, which was launched Wednesday, Feb. 13.
Dr. Sophia Mancao, chief of the Regulation, Licensing & Enforcement Division of DOH 7, said complications from measles are also common among adults.
“Among adults, our immune system is not as good or enough to cope with the infection, especially those with certain conditions like diabetes. So we will give the vaccine to those who have not been vaccinated and those whose vaccines are incomplete because if you’re exposed to the virus, for example there is someone in the community who’s infected, you will be vulnerable,” Mancao said.
Measles, according to the World Health Organization, is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus of the Paramyxovirus family and is normally passed from one person to another through direct contact and through the air.
The Regional Epidemiology & Surveillance Unit of DOH 7 recorded a total of 169 measles-rubella cases from Jan. 1 to Feb. 12 this year. This is 1,436 percent higher compared to the number recorded in the same period last year.
Following the DOH central office’s declaration of a measles outbreak in Central Visayas, DOH 7 declared a Code White alert in the entire region on Tuesday, Feb. 12.
With that status, the DOH began conducting the Outbreak Response Immunization (ORI) where all children aged six to 59 months shall be given a dose of Measles Containing Vaccine.
Measles fast lanes were also activated in all public hospitals to give suspect measles patients immediate medical attention.
Mancao said getting an extra dose of the MMR vaccine is not harmful to one’s health.
“It’s just like taking food supplements,” Mancao added.
Miguel Debuayan, 34, one of the security guards at the DOH, had himself vaccinated with the MMR vaccine during the launching of the vaccination post.
“It’s for safety purposes since I’m assigned at the Emergency Room and you’ll find all kinds of illnesses there,” he said in Cebuano.
The DOH 7 vaccination post is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Mondays to Fridays.
At the Barangay Guadalupe Health and Birthing Center in Cebu City, head nurse Suzette Mosqueda said the Dengvaxia scare caused a slight drop in the number of individuals getting the vaccines for measles, but the decrease “is not remarkable.”
She said the ORI has been implemented in Guadalupe since November, and they already covered 80 percent of the barangay.
On Wednesday morning alone, around 61 children were given the MMR vaccine at the health center.
John Richard Barsicas, 28, one of the fathers who brought their children to the Guadalupe Health and Birthing Center, said he did not hesitate to submit his one-year-old child for the MMR vaccine despite the fear sowed by the Dengvaxia controversy.
“It’s part of our responsibility as parents. Dengvaxia was very new compared to the other vaccines distributed in the health centers. I’m sure about the safety of the anti-measles vaccine,” he said.
In late 2017, the dengue vaccination program was suspended amid reports some children had died due to complications from the Dengvaxia vaccine. This fueled fears on the harms vaccines could cause.