Philippines health officials officially declared a measles outbreak in National Capital Region (NCR), which includes Manila on Wednesday.
The DOH Epidemiology Bureau (DOH EB) has reported nearly 200 confirmed cases through January 19 in the region. In addition, 861 suspected cases have been reported in the Metro Manila area during the first month of the year.
The number of measles cases reported in the region have risen dramatically from 2017–in 2018, the DOH EB recorded 3,646 measles cases in the region against the 351 cases in 2017.
Philippines: Measles cases up dramatically in 2018
DOH Undersecretary Eric Domingo said the DOH has instructed its medical teams to perform necessary measures to keep the measles virus from spreading.
“That’s why our teams are going around the cities, and they are doing the outbreak management and it includes vaccination of all children in the community,” he said.
In addition to the NCR area, health officials are also closely monitoring the Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa (Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Bicol region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Cordillera region, and Caraga for measles.
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