ZAMBOANGA CITY, (PNA) — Health officials have vaccinated 1,359 children aged six months to 15 years old to protect them from viral diseases while being sheltered at the evacuation centers in this city.
City health officer Dr. Rodelin Agbulos said they conducted mass immunization for measles, mumps including polio vaccine.
Agbulos said that the children were also given Vitamin A aside from the immunization.
Agbulos said that pregnant women were injected with tetanus toxoid and nutritional assessment of children are also being done to include deworming as well as given iron and zinc.
Agbulos said the five patients of measles recorded at the sports complex are all recuperating.
There are also three reported cases of varicella or chicken pox, according to Agbulos.
“The patients are being checked daily and provided with medicine. There is also a designated isolation tent to prevent the spread of disease,” he said.
He said that a cumulative of 8,532 individuals or about eight percent of the evacuees’ population at the sports complex have undergone medical consultation.
He said they are conducting tent-to-tent visitation as they are now focus on the prevention of diseases in the evacuation centers.
Meanwhile, Agbulos said they have formed four clusters to look into the present situation at the evacuation centers.
The clusters are the following: health cluster; water sanitation and hygiene cluster; nutrition cluster; and, mental health and psychosocial services cluster.
Surveillance and monitoring of illnesses and deaths has also been intensified to include sanitation, water sampling, and cleaning of portalets, according to Agbulos.
Agbulos said the Fabella Hospital and Philippine Children Medical Center are also set to donate breast milk for babies.