BAGUIO CITY — The Department of Health in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DOH-CAR) expressed confidence the region will not be faced with problems relating to the administration of the Dengvaxia vaccine, a medical officer said on Friday.
Dr. Alexie Marrero, DOH-CAR Medical Officer IV, in a telephone interview, said that DOH-Cordillera was not allocated with Dengvaxia vaccines from the national office, and thus did not conduct mass vaccination among the students.
Marrero, who is in charge of the Communicable Disease Cluster of the agency in the region, said Cordillera did not have high incidence of dengue compared to the other regions at that time, which did not qualify it to be allocated with supplies of the vaccine.
“The Cordillera has not been given any vaccines since they have prioritized three regions where high incidence of dengue was recorded,” he said.
Marrero, however, said that they have received information that there were some private doctors who gave the vaccines to patients.
“We are trying to get information to be able to know how many private doctors gave the vaccines and how many patients received it,” he said.
Cases of dengue in the Cordillera recorded a 65 percent drop from January to November this year.
The DOH-Cordillera disease surveillance recorded 10,601 cases in the first eleven months of 2016 while there were 3,684 cases during the same period this year.
Marrero said that despite the decrease in incidence, the health offices in the provinces and the region are jointly continuing not just surveillance but conducting information education campaigns among residents to inform them about the prevention of the disease.
The region as a whole recorded a decrease but there was high incidence in clustered areas like in the municipality of Conner in Apayao; La Trinidad and Mankayan in Benguet; Tinoc in Ifugao; Pinukpok town and Tabuk City in Kalinga; and the municipality of Paracelis in Mountain Province. (Pamela Mariz Geminiano/PNA)
