BAGUIO CITY – The mass immunization campaign mounted by the City Health Services Office to stem cases of measles, Japanese encephalitis and polio will run until March 31 in all health centers in the city.
City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo urged the public to avail of the opportunity to protect their children from said infectious diseases free of charge.
Measles vaccines with Vitamin A supplementation can be administered to children aged six to 59 months or below five years old and pre-school kids who are more than five years old but are not in grade school.
Oral polio vaccine can be given to children zero to 59 months old while the Japanese encephalitis immunization are for children nine to 59 months old.
CHSO Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit Head Dr. Donna Tubera said that from January 1 to March 4, they have recorded a total of 147 cases which is a ten-fold increase from last year’s number of cases but no fatalities.
Irisan barangay chalked up the highest number of cases at 17 followed by Camp 7 with 10 and Bakakeng Central with ten.
No Japanese encephalitis case has so far been recorded in the city.
Apart from availing of the immunization program, the health office advised the public to observe health protocol to avoid contracting infectious diseases by keeping babies away from crowded places and building body resistance by practicing a healthy lifestyle.
“Avoid close contact with sick people, cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing take antibiotics prescribed by physicians and wash hands regularly with soap and water at least for 20 second or use alcohol-based hand sanitizers especially before and after eating, after using the toilet and as necessary,” the advisory adds.
“Avoid eating unsanitary street-vended food, cook food well and always cover good to prevent contamination from insects, avoid drinking untreated water and keep surroundings clean.”
Apart from measles, other communicable diseases to watch out for are Japanese encephalitis, acute respiratory infection, A (H1N1), bird flu, capilliariasis, chicken pox, cholera, dengue fever, diarrhea, diphtheria, ebola reson, filariasis, hand, food and mouth disease, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, influenza, Kawasaki diseases, leprosy, leptospirosis, mad cow disease, malaria, meningococcemia, paragonimiasis, pertussis, poliomyelitis, rabies, severe acute respiratory syndrome, schistosomiasis, sexually transmitted infections, sore eyes, tuberculosis and typhoid fever.
By: Aileen P. Refuerzo
