DOH to kids, teens: Get measles, diphtheria, HPV shots

MANILA, Philippines — Children and teenagers should be immunized against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

The DOH urged those aged 10 to 19 to avail themselves of the government’s immunization program.

“Aside from infants, we have vaccines for adolescents,” Dr. Janis Asuncion Macazo of the DOH’s Disease Prevention and Control Bureau said in Filipino.

“With some vaccines, the level of protection lessens over time,” she explained why adolescents and teenagers need booster shots against measles, rubella, tetanus and diphtheria.

The DOH also provides free human papillomavirus vaccine to girls aged 10 to 19 to protect against cervical cancer.

Based on DOH’s 2022 data, 13 out of 100 adolescents contracted measles, 40 in 100 suffered from diphtheria and 11 in 100 were infected with pertussis or whooping cough.

Macazo said the DOH provides free vaccines through school-based immunization. Teenagers may also go to the nearest health center to avail themselves of free vaccination.

The DOH observes August as National Immunization Month.