JORDAN, Guimaras – This town achieved a 95.79 percent coverage in measles-rubella oral polio vaccine supplemental immunization activity (MR OPV SIA), enough to deem it to have achieved herd immunity from these diseases.
Herd immunity, also known as population immunity, is the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection.
According to Jordan’s Rural Health Unit (RHU), most of Jordan’s 14 barangays accomplished at least 95 percent MR OPV SIA coverage, and seven of these in fact achieved over a hundred percent coverage. These seven villages were Balcon Maravilla, Alaguisoc, Balcon Melliza, Morobuan, Espinosa, Lawi, and Buluangan.
Mayor Ruben Corpuz commended the Jordan Health Team, the Philippine Red Cross and volunteers, among others, for this feat.
“Thank you for the dedication, hard work, sincerity, humility, support, and patience. A dramatic journey indeed. We started with low (coverage) percentage and ended on top,” said Corpuz.
The MR OPV SIA targeted children from zero to 59 months old.
The vaccinated started on Feb. 1. It ended on Feb. 28 but was extended for a few more days by the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 to reach the target 95 percent immunization coverage and achieve herd immunity.
Measles is a childhood infection caused by a virus. It can be serious and even fatal for small children.
Measles’ signs and symptoms appear around 10 to 14 days after exposure to the virus. These include fever, dry cough, runny nose, sore throat, inflamed eyes (conjunctivitis), tiny white spots with bluish-white centers on a red background found inside the mouth on the inner lining of the cheek — also called Koplik’s spots – and a skin rash made up of large, flat blotches that often flow into one another.
Rubella is a contagious viral infection best known by its distinctive red rash. While this infection may cause mild symptoms or even no symptoms in most people, it can cause serious problems for unborn babies whose mothers become infected during pregnancy.
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a disabling disease caused by the poliovirus. Its most severe form causes nerve injury leading to paralysis, difficulty breathing and sometimes death.
Signs and symptoms, which can last up to 10 days, include fever, sore throat, headache, vomiting, fatigue, back pain or stiffness, neck pain or stiffness, pain or stiffness in the arms or legs, and muscle weakness or tenderness.”/PN
