DOH joins WHO in vaccination drive against measles
The World Health Organization (WHO) underscored last Wednesday the importance of vaccinating children against measles or tigdas, described as the “most infectious air-borne disease known to man.”
According to WHO country representative Soe Nyunt-U, measles is more infectious than the dreaded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) or avian influenza (bird flu).
“Infants are generally protected from measles for six to eight months after birth due to immunity passed on from their mothers. But for older kids, the only defense is immunization,” he said.
Because of this, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III urged parents to avail of the free mass vaccination program being implemented by the Department of Health (DOH) nationwide.
Dubbed “Knock Out Tigdas (KOT),” the program was designed to reach out to some nine million children aged nine months to under-four years who have not been vaccinated against measles.
The DOH, in coordination with local government units, recently dispatched health workers and volunteers to conduct door-to-door immunization. Vaccination centers have also been set up in barangay halls, health centers, public plaza and other places.
He said a similar mass immunization campaign, the DOH’s “Ligtas Tigdas” program conducted in 2004, produced outstanding results.
“The campaign decreased the incidence of measles by 98 percent and the deaths related to the (measles) virus went down by 99 percent,” he said.
In the past months, the DOH observed measles outbreaks in Metro Manila and the provinces of Quezon, Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu,
Measles can spread rapidly from person-to-person by direct contact or through airborne transmission. One out of 100 people who acquire this illness dies.
Its symptoms include fever, cough, sore eyes, runny nose and red rashes while some of the complications are ear infections, diarrhea, pneumonia and encephalitis.
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