By Paulo Loreto Lim

According to Department of Health (DOH) provincial chief, Dr. Socrates Villamor, some rural health units in the province have begun “outbreak immunization response” amid an ongoing measles outbreak.

Villamor earlier said he believed the measles cases in the province may have been sparked by children who were not immunized or whose immunizations were “incomplete.”

A traditional measles vaccination requires two doses between the ages of nine months and 15 months.

He said health workers are currently going door-to-door to provide free vaccinations to those who have yet to receive their immunizations.

Among the localities affected by the outbreak include Bacong, Dumaguete City, Mabinay, San Jose, Santa Catalina, Siaton, and Valencia.

Aside from Negros Oriental, DOH earlier declared three other areas in the country under a measles outbreak./PLL, WDJ