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Friday, March 29, 2024

Makati kids get dengue vaccines

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The Makati City government has started vaccinating public school children aged 9 to 14 years old to boost their immunity against dengue, which according to health officials is the fast emerging pandemic-prone viral disease worldwide.

The program, according to Mayor Abigail Binay, kicked off at the Guadalupe Viejo Health Center on Aug. 14 and will continue until Aug. 31.

Binay said the community-based vaccination program is part of the city’s larger campaign for dengue prevention, especially since cases of dengue are expected to spike during the rainy season.

“We want to give children the best possible defense against dengue since their immune systems are still developing,” she said.

Binay also encouraged parents to bring children aged  9  to 14 years old to the nearest health center or allow their children to be vaccinated in school.

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The Makati Health Department received some 65,000 dengue vaccines from the Department of Health.

Acting on the Mayor’s directive, the MHD mobilized doctors and nurses for the community-based vaccination. To cover more ground, health representatives also went around public elementary schools and high schools.

MHD chief Bernard Sese said 5,813 children have been vaccinated in the schools and health centers so far. Nurse Lea Torio of Department of Education-Makati reported that students from 23 out of 39 schools have already received the free dengue vaccine.

Sese said the dengue vaccine they are administering covers all four strains of the dengue virus.

Children who signed up for the vaccination program will be receiving a second dose in February 2018; and the third and final dose in August 2018.

Apart from the community-based dengue vaccination program, the MHD has also been organizing cleanup drives, doing preventive misting operations as well as holding health education seminars in the barangay and school levels to help prevent the spread of dengue.

The dengue virus is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also transmits the Zika and Chikungunya viruses. The vector mosquitoes grow in number during the rainy season because of damp weather and stagnant water.

Reports showed that the ages of dengue-stricken patients ranged from three to 57 years old, with one to 10 years old as the most affected age group at 43 percent of total cases.

World Health Organization officials said dengue is fast emerging pandemic-prone viral disease in many parts of the world.

The disease is a mosquito-borne viral infection causing a severe flu-like illness and, sometimes causing a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue. It flourishes in urban poor areas, suburbs and the countryside but also affects more affluent neighborhoods in tropical and subtropical countries.

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