GUIMARAS – The provincial government will conduct a measles, rubella and polio supplemental immunization activity (MR OPV SIA) from May 2 to 31.
Gov. Joaquin Carlos ‘JC’ Rahman A. Nava issued Executive Order No. 19, Series of 2023, adopting the nationwide intensive and simultaneous supplemental immunization activity under the Department of Health (DOH) to avert outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
For the measles-rubella vaccine, the province targets 15,265 children aged nine months to 59 months.
For polio, the target is to vaccinate 17,582 children aged zero to 59 months.
Nava directed the Rural Health Units of five towns—Jordan, Buenavista, Sibunag, San Lorenzo, and Nueva Valencia—to schedule the immunization in their respective barangays.
The governor also encouraged parents or guardians to have their children inoculated.
On Monday, April 24, the Guimaras Provincial Health Office met with stakeholders and distributed information and communication campaign materials for the immunization activity.
In Western Visayas, 660,054 children are eyed to be immunized for measles-rubella and 769,881 children for oral polio.
Dr. Jose Martin T. Atienza, DOH-Region 6 immunization program coordinator, said the MR OPV SIA aims to prevent the transmission of measles virus and poliovirus by extending technical guidance on infection and preventing an outbreak burden on the healthcare system.
The DOH-6 hired vaccinators, data management support staff, and doctors to augment human resources in provinces and highly urbanized cities.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease. Its virus is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons.
Initial symptoms, which usually appear between 10 and 12 days after infection, include a high fever, a runny nose, bloodshot eyes, and tiny white spots on the inside of the mouth. Several days later, a rash develops, starting on the face and upper neck and gradually spreading downward.
Persons exhibiting symptoms must immediately seek treatment in public health centers or hospitals.
Meanwhile, polio is an illness caused by a virus that mainly affects nerves in the spinal cord or brain stem, according to the Mayo Clinic. In its most severe form, polio can lead to a person being unable to move certain limbs or paralysis. It can also lead to troubled breathing, and sometimes death. The disease is also called poliomyelitis.
Most people infected with the virus that causes polio, called poliovirus, don’t get symptoms. About five percent of people with the poliovirus get a mild version of the disease called abortive poliomyelitis. This leads to flu-like symptoms that last two to three days. These include fever, headache, muscle aches, sore throat, stomachache, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting./PN
