How To Protect Yourself From The Measles Epidemic
4 min readEarlier this week, the Department of Health (DOH) declared a measles outbreak in the National Capital Region. Not long after, the agency expanded the outbreak to adjacent regions.

Currently, there are more than 1,500
The measles outbreak in the Philippines
The breakdown of measles cases per region are as follows:
Region |
Total |
Deaths |
NCR |
441 |
5 |
Region I |
64 |
2 |
Region III |
192 |
4 |
Region IV-A |
575 |
9 |
Region IV-B |
70 |
0 |
Region VI |
104 |
3 |
Region VII |
71 |
1 |
Region VIII |
54 |
1 |
Region X |
60 |
0 |
Region XII |
43 |
0 |
In some cases like in Region IV-A (CALABARZON), where the highest number of total cases and death was recorded, the number
Apart from the areas expanded under the
“We are expanding the outbreak from Metro Manila to the other regions as cases have increased in the past weeks and
(Read: ‘WILD’ Diseases: DOH Advises The Public To Take Precautions Against Leptospirosis, Dengue, Et Al.)
All over the world
The World Health Organization (WHO)
A report by the BBC revealed that
In the United States, the state of Washington has already declared an outbreak after 50 people became
In Madagascar, 50,000 people have contracted
In 2017, 110,000 people died from measles—mostly children under the age of five.
Understanding measles
According to the WHO, measles is a highly contagious disease that easily spreads through “coughing and sneezing, close personal contact or direct contact with infected nasal or throat secretions.”
Part of the paramyxovirus family, it
If you’re exposed to the virus, these are the following symptoms you have to watch out for:
- High fever that lasts for days
- Runny nose
- Red and watery eyes
- Small white spots inside the cheeks
- Rashes all over the body
None of the symptoms are actually life-threatening. However, complications associated with measles can cause death among infected people.
According to the WHO these complications include “blindness, encephalitis (an infection that causes brain swelling), severe diarrhea and related dehydration, ear infections, or severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia.”
Children who have poor nutrition especially vitamin A are the ones who are prone to these.
Although measles is more common among children, adults are also prone to it. Any person who isn’t inoculated with the anti-measles vaccine can be infected. Pregnant women who are unvaccinated are also at risk of contracting the disease.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for
(Read: Influenza Shots And Other Proven Vaccines For Adults In The Philippines)
What to do
With the rising number of measles cases
- Get vaccinated. If you have children, have them immunized by getting the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine. For people aged five and up, they can still get booster doses for MMR. In addition, you can also get immunization from other diseases like tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus, and other disease. For full coverage, make sure that you have at least two shots against measles.
- Don’t believe in the myth that vaccines are bad for you. Last year, the government reported that vaccination coverage in the Philippines dropped from 80 percent to merely 40. Numerous studies have already proven that vaccines have adverse effects to the body, so don’t buy the whole anti-vaccination hype.
- When you develop the symptoms, have yourself confined to a hospital. If you’re not confident that your resources are not enough for hospitalization, keep in mind that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has indigent coverage for people infected with measles.