DOH warns of possible measles outbreak in Mindanao

The Department of Health revealed on Saturday that Mindanao remains at risk of having a measles outbreak as many children in the region have yet to be vaccinated against the virus.

Health Secretary Dr. Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa sought to urge parents with unvaccinated children in Mindanao to have them receive shots against measles virus as Mindanao remains below the 95 percent immunization threshold set by the department.

Based on the data recorded from the “Ligtas Tigdas” program of the DOH this February, around 520,000 children below five years old are still not immunized out of the nearly 2.8 million children in Mindanao and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Herbosa explained that the purpose of the high baseline for immunization is to establish and strenghten “herd immunity,” a similar concept that was applied during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Kapag maraming hindi bakunado, mas mabilis magkakahawaan, mas mabilis mag-outbreak kasi mas maraming vulnerable kids,” he said.

“Pag protektado ang 95 percent, hindi magkikita-kita yung mayroong measles kasi ma-eexposse sila sa taong may vaccine na, so hindi kakalat yung virus,” he added.

This idea of herd immunity is a concept backed by the World Health Organization as it mentioned that it allowed for an indirect protection against infectious diseases either through vaccination or immunity built through previous infection.

The DOH secretary emphasized the importance of getting children vaccinated at a very young age as it also helped to prevent outbreaks from happening within schools.

“Paalala lang, tuloy tuloy, pabakunahan ang ating mga kabataan, nine months and 13 months yung ating two doses ng measles vaccine,” said Herbosa.

Measles is a highly contagious viral infection known to cause various outbreaks in different parts of the country particularly as the climate begins to get warmer headed into the months of March to June.

From January to May of 2025, there were a total of 2,608 cases of measles recorded in the Philippines as the WHO said that it was the highest tally of measles cases in the East Asia and Pacific regions since 2020.