BAGUIO CITY– The Cordillera office of the Department of Health (DOH-CAR) reported that measles cases in the region reached 1,028 from January 1 to November 16, 2019, which is 403 percent higher compared to the 204 cases that were recorded during the same period last year.
Based on the data obtained from the DOH-CAR’s regional epidemiology and surveillance unit (RESU), there were also 5 measles-related deaths reported during the reckoning period compared to zero measles-related deaths during the same period last year.
Health authorities explained that measles is an acute viral illness caused by measles virus and characterized by fever, conjunctivitis, cough, coryza and small spots with white or bluish white centers on an erythematous base on the buccal mucosa known as koplik spots.
Further, measles is reportedly transmitted through direct contact with nasal or throat secretions of infected persons or by articles freshly soiled with the said secretions.
According to experts, the measles disease is extremely communicable and it is estimated that 90 percent of non-immune people exposed to an infected individual will contract the disease, thus, prompt reporting of all suspect cases and immediate investigation to determine the possible cause of the positive cases in the provinces is highly significant.
Health officials pointed out that the disease reporting units regionwide should make sure every detected case should have a specimen for immediate laboratory confirmation and timely intervention by the concerned health personnel assigned in the said units established in strategic areas in the region.
Also called rubela, measles can be serious and even fatal for small children. While death rates have been falling worldwide as more children receive the measles vaccine, the disease still kills more than 100,000 people a year, most under the age of 5.
For the first 10 to 14 days after one is infected, the measles virus incubates. People have no signs or symptoms of measles during this time.
Measles typically begins with a mild to moderate fever, often accompanied by a persistent cough, runny nose, inflamed eyes (conjunctivitis) and sore throat. This relatively mild illness may last two or three days.
A person with measles can spread the virus to others for about eight days, starting four days before the rash appears and ending when the rash has been present for four days.
Measles is a highly contagious illness caused by a virus that replicates in the nose and throat of an infected child or adult. Then, when someone with measles coughs, sneezes or talks, infected droplets spray into the air, where other people can inhale them.
The infected droplets may also land on a surface, where they remain active and contagious for several hours. One can contract the virus by putting your fingers in your mouth or nose or rubbing your eyes after touching the infected surface. About 90 percent of susceptible people who are exposed to someone with the virus will be infected.
Risk factors for measles include: Being unvaccinated, traveling internationally and having a vitamin A deficiency.
By HENT
