DOH

A total of 589 measles cases were recorded across the country in 2022, data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed.

This figure posted a 186 percent increase as compared to the year 2021 where only 206 cases were logged, the DOH report showed.

Calabarzon registered the most number of measles cases with 110, the DOH said.

It was followed by the National Capital Region with 77 cases, Central Visayas with 69, Central Luzon with 49, Zamboanga Peninsula with 47, and Davao Region with 41.

The DOH recorded only one death due to measles last year. There were no reported deaths in 2021.

In October 2022, the DOH warned that the country may face a measles outbreak this year if vaccination coverage remains low. DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire then reported that at least three million children in the Philippines are susceptible to measles.

The DOH also reported in October last year that all regions in the country were at high risk for a possible measles outbreak due to low vaccine coverage.

The last “wide scale” outbreak of measles in the country was in 2019, wherein an outbreak was declared in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Western Visayas, and Central Visayas.

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