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MANILA: At least 70 people, mostly children under the age of four, have been confirmed dead as a result of the measles epidemic in the Philippines and authorities are loath to the vaccine for the health crisis.
The deaths have occurred since the beginning of the year, but the Ministry of Health said Monday in a statement that the epidemic has intensified and more than 4,300 people with measles, a highly contagious disease transmitted by air, reported the news of Efe.
The authorities have alerted five regions, although the largest number of people affected have been reported in Manila and its suburbs.
An intensive immunization program has been launched for children in the National Capital Region to prevent the spread of the disease that infects the victim's respiratory system and can lead to severe diarrhea, pneumonia, blindness and even death. death.
"The areas where the number of reported cases is high are the NCR (1,296 cases and 18 deaths), Calabarzon (1,086 cases and 25 deaths), Central Luzon (481 cases and 3 deaths), Western Visayas (212). cases and 4 deaths) and northern Mindanao (189 cases), 2 deaths, "said the Ministry of Health.
The epidemic of the disease has been attributed to the lack of vaccination of children in recent years. About 2.5 million Filipino children under the age of five have not received the necessary vaccines.
Many Filipino parents refused to vaccinate their children because of the scandal surrounding Dangvaxia, a dengue vaccine used in the country between 2014 and 2017, until its manufacturer, the French pharmaceutical group Sanofi Pasteur, acknowledged that It has side effects and the vaccinated people who contracted dengue fever for the first time have suffered more serious effects.
Secretary of Health Francisco Duque III urged the public to rely on vaccination programs.
Indo-Asian Information Service
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