DOH-7 extends measles immunization regionwide

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Health in Central Visayas has extended its “catch up” immunization from a single province to the entire region, including Cebu, amid threats of measles outbreak.

DOH- 7 Director Dr. Jaime Bernadas said following efforts to contain the measles outbreak in Negros Oriental, the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor are also included in the initiative dubbed as “Outbreak Response Immunization (ORI).”

“We have also started to conduct catch up immunization regionwide through our LGUs (local government units) and provinces in providing vaccines for children nine months to 59 months,” he told The FREEMAN.

Catch-up immunization is the medical jargon used to refer to reaching all the target population of the vaccination program that was supposed to receive the shots at the given schedule. Local health personnel are now doing a house-to-house visitation to check the infants and children that had missed the routine immunization.

Bernadas said ORI was initially launched in Negros Oriental which was earlier plagued by measles, a contagious disease. He said all efforts were then focused at the province while local health offices were alerted.

DOH-7 earlier reported that there were positive cases of measles in at least six localities in Negros Oriental. This prompted the LGUs concerned to declare an outbreak.

Bernadas said the catch up immunization, which was done in coordination with the LGUs concerned, were firstly concentrated in the areas with positive cases but was later on extended to the entire province as directed by the governor.

And this time, efforts were further stretched out to the entire region so that the illness will easily be contained and the population highly vulnerable to measles will be resistant to the disease.

“These activities are expected to finish by end of May and will be expected to catch up for regionwide herd immunity when achieved,” he said. —  /FPL (FREEMAN)