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BY IME SORNITO
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Saturday, March 10, 2018
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DOH-6 traces Antique cases to Davao
ILOILO City – The provincial government of Antique declared a measles outbreak after four residents were stricken with the illness.
Four cases may be few but the declaration had clearance from the Department of Health (DOH), according to Dr. Renilyn Reyes, head of DOH Region 6’s Family Health and Nutrition Cluster.
Citing World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, Reyes said the four cases were enough to declare an outbreak because the Philippines was now on the “elimination phase” of the campaign to eradicate measles.
The Philippines aims to become measles-free in the next few years.
The four measles cases in Antique were recorded between January and March 3, 2018, said Reyes.
Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus. It remains one of the leading causes of death among young children globally despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine, according to the WHO website.
Approximately 89,780 people died from measles in 2016 – mostly children under the age of five years, according to WHO.
HOW IT STARTED
Measles cases in Antique this year were traced to a father who returned to the province from Davao City where, in late January, DOH declared an outbreak of the diseases after 222 cases were recorded, said Reyes.
The father’s three-year-old son got infected and was taken to the hospital on Jan. 3.
In that hospital, a 39-year-old woman caught the measles virus, said Reyes.
A seven-month-old baby boy confined in the same hospital but for another illness contracted measles, also.
Then another nine-year-old baby boy went down with the illness, said Reyes.
She declined to identify the hospital or the residences of these measles patients to avert public panic.
DOH declared the Davao City measles cases as contained by February. The city health office there conducted measles immunization either through a fixed site (health center) or house-to-house. The targets were children between six to 59 months old
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
The first sign of measles is usually a high fever, which begins about 10 to 12 days after exposure to the virus, and lasts between four to seven days.
A runny nose, a cough, red and watery eyes, and small white spots inside the cheeks can develop in the initial stage.
After several days, a rash erupts, usually on the face and upper neck.
Over about three days, the rash spreads, eventually reaching the hands and feet.
The rash lasts for five to six days, and then fades.
On average, the rash occurs 14 days after exposure to the virus (within a range of seven to 18 days), according to WHO.
OUTSIDE ANTIQUE
According to Reyes, there were two reported measles cases in Iloilo province this year – a seven-year-old girl from Lambunao town who was never vaccinated for measles and a 27-year-old man from the municipality of Guimbal who worked as food handler in the Antique hospital where the four measles patients were confined.
Reyes said there were 20 more suspected cases; specimens from them were sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Metro Manila for analysis and confirmation.
The area breakdown of these 20 suspected cases is as follows:
* Aklan – 7
* Antique – 5
* Capiz – 3
* Iloilo – 2
* Negros Occidental – 2
* others – 1 (non-resident of Region 6 but detected in Iloilo)
Reyes said there were no suspected measles cases in the island province of Guimaras, Bacolod City and Iloilo City.
Still, Reyes said, DOH Region 6 is campaigning for measles vaccination, and most especially in Antique.
Citing DOH-6 records, Reyes said the measles vaccination rate in Antique is only at 44 percent of the children population (zero to one year old) there as of November 2017.
WHO ARE AT RISK?
Unvaccinated young children are at highest risk of measles and its complications, including death. Unvaccinated pregnant women are also at risk.
According to WHO, any non-immune person (who has not been vaccinated or was vaccinated but did not develop immunity) can become infected.
The highly contagious virus is spread by coughing and sneezing, close personal contact or direct contact with infected nasal or throat secretions.
The virus remains active and contagious in the air or on infected surfaces for up to two hours. It can be transmitted by an infected person from four days prior to the onset of the rash to four days after the rash erupts.
COMPLICATIONS
According to WHO, most measles-related deaths are caused by complications associated with the disease.
Serious complications are more common in children under the age of five years, or adults over the age of 30 years.
The most serious complications include blindness, encephalitis (an infection that causes brain swelling), severe diarrhea and related dehydration, ear infections, or severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia.
Severe measles is more likely among poorly nourished young children, especially those with insufficient vitamin A, or whose immune systems have been weakened by other diseases, according to WHO./PN
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