In a virtual press briefing, DOH Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Alethea de Guzman said all 17 regions in the country are highly likely to register measles outbreaks.
“As we can see, all regions in the Philippines are at high risk for measles outbreak,” said de Guzman.
She said this is mainly because of the low immunization rate seen among children over recent years.
For 2021 alone, de Guzman said there are around 1.6 million children without measles vaccination.
“If we take into account the years before 2021, we have over 3 million. That is a large number of children that are not vaccinated,” said de Guzman.
The health official added measles outbreaks in the country usually occur every four to five years.
She said the last two measles outbreak were seen in 2014 and 2018 to 2019.
“This is why we are projecting an impending outbreak possibly in the next year or two if we fail to increase our vaccination coverage,” said de Guzman.
The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund earlier flagged the Philippines over a potential measles outbreak.
As of the latest DOH data, there have been 489 measles cases reported from January 1 to October 1.
This is 167-percent higher than the 306 cases recorded during the same period in 2021.
“Measles cases are on an upward trend. While small number of case increases were seen, positive growth change were observed nationally,” noted de Guzman.
She noted how Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, Central Visayas and National Capital Region have reached their respective epidemic thresholds for the past four weeks.
De Guzman also said that an increasing number of measles cases were observed in Dagupan City; Pangasinan; Tarlac; Batangas; Quezon; Palawan; Cebu; Lapu-Lapu City; Mandaue City; Leyte; Zamboanga del Norte; Davao City; Surigao del Sur; Malabon City; Muntinlupa City; Pasig City; and Quezon City. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)