DOH urges youths to get boosters vs. vaccine-preventable diseases

Adolescents must receive booster doses for measles-rubella vaccine, tetanus-diphtheria vaccine, Hepatitis A vaccine, Hepatitis B vaccine, Influenza, and Varicella or chicken pox. (Pexels photo)

MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday said adolescents aged 10 to 19 years old are prone to vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs), especially if they have not received booster shots.

“May mga bakuna na bumababa ang proteksyon habang tumatagal kung kaya kailangan ng karagdagang bakuna pagsapit ng school-age or adolescent age, gaya ng diphtheria, pertussis at tetano, kaya sinasabi natin dapat may (There are vaccines which provide waning protection through the years when school-age or adolescent age is reached like diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus, that’s why there should be) boosted at least every five years,” said Dr. Janis Asuncion Bunoan-Macazo, medical officer of the DOH Child, Adolescent and Maternal Health Division, Disease Prevention and Control Bureau, during the Kapihan forum.

She said a child must receive one BCG [bacille Calmette-Guerin] vaccine for tuberculosis; three doses of Pentavalent vaccine for Hepatitis B, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, H. Influenza B; three doses of oral polio vaccine; two doses of inactivated polio vaccine; three doses of pneumococcal vaccine; and two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine before he or she reaches 1 year old.

Adolescents must receive booster doses for measles-rubella vaccine, tetanus-diphtheria vaccine, Hepatitis A vaccine, Hepatitis B vaccine, Influenza, and Varicella or chicken pox.

Adolescent girls who are between 9 to 14 years old must receive Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as protection against cervical cancer, Bunoan-Macazo said.

To keep all youths from having severe symptoms of Covid-19, they are also recommended to receive their primary series of vaccines and booster doses.

“Ayon sa datos noong 2022, sa totoo, 13 kada 100 na kaso ng tigdas ay teenagers, 40 kada 100 na kaso ng diphtheria, at 11 naman kada 100 na kaso ng (According to 2022 data, in reality, 13 for every 100 cases of measles cases are teenagers, 40 in every 100 cases of diphtheria, and 11 in every 100 cases of) whooping cough or pertussis,” Bunoan-Macazo said.

The DOH offers free vaccines against measles-rubella, tetanus-diphtheria vaccine for Grade 1 and 7 students and HPV vaccine for Grade 4 female students at public schools and barangay health centers.

The agency also underscores the importance of vaccinating nine out of 10 individuals or 95 percent of the population to achieve herd immunity and to better protect the unvaccinated infants, pregnant women, senior citizens, and people who cannot receive vaccines due to comorbidities.