Amid the ongoing measles outbreaks in Metro Manila, the Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas, the Bacolod City Health Office (CHO) yesterday made an urgent appeal for parents to vaccinate their children against measles.

CHO Environment and Sanitation Division head, Dr. Grace Tan, said, as of the moment, they do not have any confirmed cases of measles in the city but there are currently 41 “suspected” cases being verified by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

The CHO official said they are currently monitoring for measles and have requested local hospitals, health centers, and private medical clinics to immediately submit patient records if they exhibit a fever and rash in order to obtain a specimen, which would then be submitted to the RITM.

She also encouraged the health workers to help the CHO in their surveillance.

“We are also encouraging everybody to submit their children, especially those under five years old, for measles immunization,” Tan said.

With measles currently being attributed to the Dengvaxia scare, Tan assured the public measles vaccinations been proven safe for more than 10 years.

She said parents may immunize their kids at various available health centers across the city every Wednesday. The vaccine is free and individuals can also be vaccinated on any given day as long as the immunization is conducted as a group.

“Please cooperate [with] our health workers should they go to a barangay with a confirmed measles case,” Tan said. “They will be campaigning house to house and conduct immunizations.”

She also warned measles complications are very difficult to treat as they could be lethal for children if left unvaccinated.

Yesterday morning, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said they are presently strengthening their surveillance of new measles cases and issued an alert to mothers and caregivers to “be vigilant.”

The Department of Health in the Western Visayas recorded 104 measles cases, which attributed to three deaths this year, as compared to 16 cases last year./DGB, WDJ