By Philippine News Agency
The City Health Office said cases of measles have dramatically reduced in Zamboanga city, brought about by the sustained preventive intervention programs.
Dr. Annie Rose Amar of the City Health Office’s Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, said they have so far recorded only two suspected cases of measles during the first week of the month.
Amar said this was an indication that the joint intervention programs initiated by the City Health Office and Department of Health (DOH) have been effective. One of these interventions is the house-to-house immunization that already covers 97 percent of children aged five and below.
The house-to-house immunization was launched following the declaration of an outbreak as the City Health Office has recorded 101 measles cases from January 1 until February 1, this year.
The number of measles cases recorded from Janaury 1 to February 1, this year, were higher by 1,343 percent compared to only seven cases registered in the same period last year.
Amar said that supplemental immunization is being conducted targeting 10.8 percent of the population, even as the City Health Office has already gone beyond target.