See the recovery efforts in Gaza as ceasefire appears to hold 'Is everything I'm trying to do pointless? ': Syrians helpless in face of 'sham' election Report: US companies may have benefited from forced labor of Uyghurs Residents stand near stalls along a road amidst debris while strong winds batter Balasore district in Odisha state on May 26, 2021 as Cyclone Yaas barrels towards India's eastern coast in the Bay of Bengal. (Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP) (Photo by DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images) France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame speak as they walk in the grounds of The Presidential Palace in Kigali on May 27, 2021, after their press conference and prior to their official luncheon. - French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Rwanda on May 27, 2021, for a highly symbolic visit aimed at moving on from three decades of diplomatic tensions over France's role in the 1994 genocide in the country. Macron is the first French leader since 2010 to visit the East African nation, which has long accused France of complicity in the killing of some 800,000 mostly Tutsi Rwandans. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images) More than any vaccine, measles needs highest level of coverage to prevent outbreaks, says expert A mother holds her child as she receives a measles vaccine at the Department of Health (DOH) headquarters in Manila on January 21, 2014. The DOH announced a nationwide campaign against measles, targeting 13 million children aged up to five years old. AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS / AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS (Photo credit should read NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images) (CNN) — An outbreak of measles is spreading across the Philippines – with more than 1,500 cases of the disease and 26 deaths reported in recent weeks, authorities said Thursday. The capital region of Metro Manila has seen 441 cases, with five deaths, CNN Philippines reports, while many other areas across the country have also been affected. Those include parts of Luzon and Visayas, with some areas seeing staggering increases in the number of cases of the preventable disease. The Calabarzon region to the south of Manila has seen a jump of 2,538%, with 575 reported cases so far in 2019 – compared with 21 in 2018. The area has seen nine deaths since the beginning of the year. “We are expanding the outbreak from Metro Manila to other regions as cases have increased in the past weeks and to strengthen surveillance if there are new cases and alert mothers and caregivers to be more vigilant,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque said. Vaccinations dipped after Dengvaxia program Department of Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said the relatively low number of measles vaccinations in the country could be attributed to the aborted Dengvaxia vaccination program that began in 2016. In 2017, French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur published clinical trial data showing that the dengue vaccine could have unintended consequences in patients who had never been infected with the mosquito-borne virus. “The analysis confirmed that Dengvaxia provides persistent (protective) benefit against dengue fever in those who had prior infection,” Sanofi said in a statement at the time. “For those not previously infected by dengue virus, however, the analysis found that in the longer term, more cases of severe disease could occur following vaccination …” The country’s Public Attorney’s Office indicted government officials in connection with deaths linked to the vaccine. Duque has sought to assure parents that the vaccination for measles is not similar to the Dengvaxia vaccine. He told parents and caregivers Thursday that the measles vaccines “are safe and have been in use worldwide for decades now,” according to the state news agency. According to the Department of Health, the number of unvaccinated children has risen by over 100,000 in the last year.<doc-sep>MANILA — The Philippines expanded the area of a declared measles outbreak on Thursday from the highly populated capital to nearby regions, after a steady rise in infections and deaths attributed to the disease in recent weeks. The government’s Epidemiology Bureau raised the “red flag” after an increase in infections in the capital, Manila, as well as the northern and southern ends of Luzon, the island that includes the capital. The Department of Health said that measles had killed 55 children age 4 or younger at San Lazaro Hospital in Manila since the start of the year. According to the Epidemiology Bureau, there were 196 cases of measles in metropolitan Manila from Jan. 1 to 19, compared with 20 in the same period last year. The region had 10 times more measles cases in 2018 than the year before.<doc-sep>
Send this page to someone via email MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine health secretary says 136 people, mostly children, have died of measles and 8,400 others have been sickened in an outbreak blamed partly on recent vaccination fears. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Monday a massive immunization drive that started last week in hard-hit Manila and four provincial regions may contain the outbreak by April. President Rodrigo Duterte warned in a TV message Friday of fatal complications and urged children to be immunized. The outbreak began in January. WATCH: Study concludes no connection between MMR vaccine and autism Duque said a government information drive is helping restore public trust in the government’s immunization program, which was marred in 2017 by an anti-dengue vaccine made by French drugmaker Sanofi which was blamed for the deaths of at least three children. Story continues below advertisement View image in full screen Filipino doctors treat a child who is suffering from measles at a government hospital in Manila, Philippines, 07 February 2019. The Philippines health department declared a measles outbreak in Metro Manila and Central Luzon. At least 55 deaths have been recorded since 01 January, mostly children under the age of four, health secretary Francisco Duque III said. EPA/FRANCIS R. MALASIG Measles outbreaks have been turning up around the globe, in parts of Europe and Africa to across North America. WATCH: Health officials work to control measles outbreak in Vancouver 2:00 Vancouver grapples with measles outbreak Vancouver grapples with measles outbreak – Feb 16, 2019 A recent outbreak in B.C. — centered around elementary schools — has sickened “several” people. Dozens have fallen ill in Washington state, prompting a surge of vaccinations in the area. Story continues below advertisement The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the anti-vaccination movement one of 2019’s top 10 health threats, saying that measles cases have risen globally by 30 per cent, though not all of these cases are attributable to vaccine hesitancy. — With files from Global News