More than 26,000 measles cases have been reported nationwide, the Department of Health said yesterday.
In its latest surveillance report, the Health department reported 26,956 measles cases with 381 deaths from Jan. 1 to March 30. During the same period last year, only 5,605 cases with 51 deaths were recorded.
The National Capital Region has the most number of measles cases with 5,586, followed by Calabarzon or Region 4-A with 5,281 and Central Luzon with 4,287.
The World Health Organization is alarmed over measles outbreaks in the Western Pacific region, including the Philippines.
“The region had historically low levels of measles cases and no major outbreaks in 2017. This landmark decline was achieved through steady efforts to vaccinate all children against measles, but last year, measles cases in the region increased by 250 percent, and more than two-thirds of cases were in the Philippines,” the WHO said.
The WHO said that measles outbreaks are “putting babies, children, and young people at risk and threatening progress towards wiping out the disease.”
“Measles spreads like wildfire. It is the most contagious human disease, and it’s very good at seeking out and spreading among even small groups of people who are not immune,” said WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Takeshi Kasai.
Only nine countries and areas in the Western Pacific Region have eliminated the disease – Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Hong Kong SAR (China), Japan, Macao SAR (China), New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore. (Analou de Vera)
