MANILA, PH- In the last couple of weeks, one of the most highly contagious diseases on the planet has struck the Philippines and in just two months’ time, it already has 203 casualties, mostly children. The deadly virus had a grand entrance at the start of 2019 and up until today, cases of Measles are being reported as it continue to rise rapidly.
According to the Department of Health (DOH), the reported cases of Measles from January 1 to February 9 was at 4, 300 and only a week after, it escalated to over 8,443 in total, doubling the last record, causing the department to declare an outbreak over CALABARZON and Metro Manila. “This is already 253% higher than the number of incidences accounted in the same period in 2018. The previous mark was 2,393 cases. Majority of cases come from CALABARZON and Metro Manila, which counted at least 1,875 and 1,841 cases, respectively. These regions also saw the highest number of fatalities with 38 deaths and 32 deaths tallied, respectively”, according to DOH Secretary Francisco Duque.
DOH has managed to ignore the first warnings of the deadly disease until there are over a hundred casualties that their conscience could not take anymore. News about hospital/government/DOH personnel going around the Metro to give free vaccines in every barangay made rounds in February this year after they failed to campaign about the significance of vaccinating children and how the consequences, if not immunized, would put children at great risk.
What is Measles and can it be prevented?
Measles [also known as Rubeola] is a viral, highly-contagious respiratory disease in children that attacks the person’s immune system as it spreads throughout the whole body, causing multiple complications such as pneumonia and diarrhea with symptoms such as fever and total-body skin rash that if left unattended and untreated, could lead to the death of the infected person but measles is a vaccine-preventable disease as the MMRV (Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella or also called ‘chickenpox’) vaccine was made available to the public for the prevention of the acquisition and spread of these deadly diseases.
Why is there an outbreak when the vaccine was made available to all?
Seems like the high rise in the anti-vaxxer parents was connected in and caused by the Dengvaxia Controversy that fulminated last November 2017 wherein it was temporarily suspended by DOH after the vaccine maker Sanofi Pasteur stated that the vaccine posed a higher risks to people without prior dengue infection as reports regarding allegedly complications started surfacing in early November that resulted in 3,281 people getting hospitalized after they received Dengvaxia (with 1,967 dengue indication) and 62 casualties.
The said vaccine was disseminated to the public, mostly in public schools in Metro Manila back in April 2016 during the term of former President Benigno Aquino III despite the fact that it lacks sufficient studies and evidence about its efficacy. About 700,000 individuals in Central Luzon, CALABARZON and Metro Manila received one dose of the vaccine. Since then, “immunization rates plummeted as parents refused to have their children vaccinated, fearing this would harm them”, according to DOH.
Who should be held responsible?
A group of professional doctors said that Public Attorney’s Office chief Persida Rueda-Acosta’s “unproven claim that Dengvaxia caused the death of several schoolchildren resulted in the drastic decline in vaccine confidence in the country”, but Acosta was quick to respond and defend herself that “the [measles] outbreak was a result of the DOH’s “failure to campaign” for the measles immunization”.
Without a doubt, there is a shortcoming in the part of Sanofi Pasteur, DOH, PAO and the then President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III because of their imprudent decision to approve the commercial sale of Dengvaxia without further investigating it by testing and proving the said vaccine before circulating them to the masses to prevent consequential damages that would be irreplaceable.
In a time of being in a desperate strait and asking who’s who, it is proposed to think rationally before pointing any finger at anyone who is involved in the controversy but it is also suggested that we, as citizens should be aware and mindful of the things that the government is freely giving away for everyone’s security because making any rash decision would only put us all at great danger.
The Vaxxer Uprising
Because of this drawback, a lot of netizens who are pro-vax clapped back by making a jest about how anti-vaxxers are putting their children at risk when they [anti-vaxxers] themselves are already immunized because their parents decided to vaccinate them when they were young and how a small-coffin business would be on trend now because of the measles outbreak and the anti-vaxxers solid stance on still not getting their children immunized. It was disturbing to think that a lot of children would be the ones to suffer the choice of their parents and the funny thing is that in the wake of the outbreak, anti-vaxxer parents are asking how they could better protect their kids from these diseases without vaccinating them, and ironically speaking, it was like asking the doctor to cure you of your illness but you defy his/her advice to cut off all foods and drinks that are not good for your health by consuming it whenever you like and hearing about this comical stories and questions, I find it rather amusing as it was tragic because admittedly, it was not the parents’ fault after all that they do not trust vaccines anymore because of fear that it would only worsen the situation of their children but if a parent’s only reason why they would not let their children to get an immunization is because of their indolence and negligence, then it is fair to say that it’s their fault, nothing less, nothing more.
V for Vaccinate your Children
It’s only high time that we let people understand the gravity of immunization and how crucial it will be for our children, and simply everyone, to stay vulnerable to these noxious diseases. It will be a great risk to actually trust a vaccine but it will also be a great risk not believing in its significance for longer [and healthier] life span. Our body’s immune system alone could not always produce antibodies that fight off diseases and this is where vaccines will prove its significance by acting as a “training for our body to kick-start antibody production. Since vaccines are made of dead or weakened versions of the disease that trigger your immune system and the pathogens in it can’t infect you, but your body can still recognize them and start producing antibodies. If you’re exposed to the disease in the future, your immune system will already have the antibodies necessary to battle it. Thus, the disease won’t get established in your body and in the past 50 years, vaccines have saved more than a billion people and made life better for everyone by preventing more illnesses and disabilities than we can count”, according to the Pediatric Associates of Franklin.
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