DOH: Measles Outbreak in US Should be Subject for Verification

The Department of Health (DOH) has said that the recent outbreak of measles in California, the United States, should not necessarily be associated to the Philippines or any other country and should still be subject for thorough verification.

“If indeed the case (measles outbreak) in the United States came from the Philippines, we still have to verify that… kasi baka naman hindi… baka naman nanggaling sa iba… (it could probably not…, it can be due to other source…),” acting DOH Secretary Janette L. Garin said, stressing that an epidemic results from many factors.

She said that in the verification, it is important to also consider the timeline or chronology of events that will link the outbreak to any country.

“In timeline consideration, the first patient can be traced, where the patient came from and who transmitted the measles, hings like that,” Dr. Garin said.

“We will also seek the assistance of the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding on that,” she added.

Garin cited that during an outbreak, there are two factors involved which should be given analysis — the source and the susceptible community.

She also said that the fault should not be put on one country alone, especially with the strain of the measles virus — found to be Genotype B3 — which was also the cause of measles outbreak in the country in the midst of 2014.

“It is multi-factorial… When an outbreak occurs, you cannot only pinpoint the source or those who were infected or where did it go… You have to check everything…,” she added.

She stressed it is important that the community is well immunized to prevent an outbreak.

She also said that if outbreaks happened in the US, it was highly probable that their immunization coverage, especially on the second dose given after nine months or what is called “MMR” (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) was not given largely due to the presence of some groups campaigning against immunization.

She recalled that it was in the US where the misinformation claiming that vaccines could cause autism first spread.

“What is important is the whole world can see that we are responding, and then we are cooperating,” she said, adding that the Philippines itself wants to reach a measles-free status by 2017.

DOH spokesperson Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy also said that even though the genotype was quite “associated with the Philippines,” it is unfair to presume right away that the first case of the Disneyland measles outbreak was due to exposure to a Filipino bearing that strain.

“It could have been gotten from the people (source) you interacted with… You do not necessarily get it from the country of origin…It could also be due to the fact that the strain of the virus was there already circulating at the time the outbreak happened,” Dr. Lee-Suy added.

It may be recalled that the Philippines conducted a massive immunization campaign during the month of September last year, wherein the importance of the second dose of immunization (for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) among children nine months up to five years old was highlighted.

During the nationwide campaign, the DOH emphasized the importance that the population should have 95 percent full immunization to ensure that children are protected from the complications of measles.

The DOH also said that it is important that all children are immunized against measles because there is a chance that even a healthy population (or immunized children) can developed measles during serious outbreaks if there are some who missed the second dose. (PNA) SCS/LSJ