By Erma Edera
The Manila Health Office recorded on Friday more than 100 “defaulters” or those parents who chose not to have their children vaccinated despite the Department of Health (DOH) urging parents to have their children immunized, following the measles outbreak in several areas in the country.
Manila City Hall (Photo by Jacqueline Hernandez)
Manila health workers have started making rounds of communities to give measles shots to some children in Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila on Friday.
Dr. Fredeliza Iringan, physician in charge of the Baseco Health Center in Manila said that some parents have been rushing to vaccinate their children. However, some of their health workers were still having a hard time to convince some of the parents to have their children vaccinated.
“Nako aabutin ka ng mga 30 minutes to 1 hour. Nakita niyo naman kung gaano kahirap iconvince ang isang nanay,” Iringan said during a house-to house vaccine drive in Baseco.
Iringan said that they have three measles cases in January. Last year, the city recorded eight cases with one fatality.
The health center is now investigating the case of three boys whose mother claim died of measles. They are also looking at a case of a six-month old baby who died of pneumonia.
It can be recalled that a 20-month-old baby also died of pneumonia after contracting measles and developing complications.