The Department of Health warned Metro Manila residents that the measles outbreak is definitely not yet over and is expected to rise in the coming weeks because of it being a highly contagious disease.
DOH Secretary Enrique Ona told reporters in a press briefing that although the government has an extensive vaccination campaign, it may not be sufficient to avoid new cases from emerging. He said that vaccination is not a complete guarantee of immunity from the disease and that there is no such thing as 100 percent guarantee in medicine because a few may not develop the antibodies needed.
Measles outbreak was declared last week by the health agency in the following areas: Sampaloc, Quiapo, Binondo, Sta. Cruz, Tondo, Sta. Mesa, and Port Area in Manila; Dagat-Dagatan and Bagong Barrio in Caloocan City; Talon 2, Talon 5, and Pamplona Uno in Las Piñas; Alabang and Putatan in Muntinlupa; Longos and Tonsuya in Malabon; Moonwalk and Don Bosco in Parañaque; North Bay Boulevard South in Navotas; Bagong Tanyag in Taguig; and Ugong in Valenzuela.
These cities have now resorted to house-to-house vaccinations after the DOH declaration.
Sec. Ona said that they declare an outbreak if there is recorded case of more than one in two weeks in a particular area.
Parents failing to complete the anti-measles shots for their children or never had their children immunized at all could be a possible cause of the outbreak, the health secretary explained.
But he reminded that measles vaccines are readily available for free at local health centers nationwide.
Read more about the disease here.
