ZAMBOANGA CITY – Two children had died from measles in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines where health officials recently declared an outbreak of the disease with nearly 200 cases just this year.
The victims, aged 2 years and three months, were all from the village of Tumaga and belonged to poor families. Village chieftain Jackie Lim confirmed the fatalities and said this came up during a mass anti-measles vaccination of children in Tumaga which started on February 19 and ends on March 23.
Health officials said many mothers had refused government immunization of their children following the rising fatalities of minors who were given anti-dengue vaccine called Dengvaxia across the country.
The Department of Health and the local government launched the immunization drive with health workers go house-to-house in all 98 villages in an effort to vaccinate children with ages 6 months to 5 years old. Nearly 122,000 children are expected to benefit from the vaccination.
Health officials have repeatedly appealed and urged mothers to have their children vaccinated to protect them from measles which is a serious respiratory disease that causes rashes and fever, and is very contagious because it can easily spread through sneezing and coughing and direct contact with nasal or throat secretions.
The City Health Office urged those with measles to avoid direct contact with other people to help prevent contamination. (Mindanao Examiner)
Like Us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mindanaoexaminer
Follow Us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MindanaoExamine
Read Our News on: https://www.mindanaoexaminer.com and https://mindanaoexaminernewspaper.blogspot.com/
Share Our News
Digital Archives: issuu.com/mindanaoexaminernewspaper
20
