By Yas D. Ocampo
The Davao City Health Office (CHO) said it has recorded and confirmed 17 cases of measles in Davao City.
Dr. Josephine Villafuerte, CHO head, said around 205 suspected cases are being tested for possible measles symptoms.
Villafuerte refuted earlier reports that there were 222 positive measles cases as of January.
Health agencies, including the CHO and the Department of Health (DoH), are appealing to parents to allow health workers to vaccinate children to prevent the spread of the disease.
The DoH said the city has recorded four deaths attributed to measles to date.
Assistant Secretary Abdullah Dumama, Jr. said the DoH Region 11 executive committee had met to handle the response to the measles cases.
The agencies reported there were parents here who now fear vaccines, in the wake of a vaccine controversy in the distribution of Dengvaxia in public schools last year.
“We’re watching out for the three Cs,” Villafuerte said, referring to colds, coughs, and conjunctivitis (sore eyes), as well as rashes, which are some of the symptoms of the disease.
International standards including that of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) define a measles outbreak as the occurrence of three or more measles cases, two of which are laboratory-confirmed, per 100,000 population.
Davao City has a population of around 1.5 million.