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January 15, 2003
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"8 Children Die in Measles Outbreak in Cotabato City" Philippine Daily Inquirer (www.philnews.com) (01/15/03)
Cotabato City, a remote village in the Philippines, is the site of a measles outbreak that has killed eight children in the last 15 days and infected 15 other children, according to Abdullah Dumama, the city's health chief. The outbreak began when a visitor from Maguinanao, who was unknowingly infected with the measles virus, passed it on to children who were not immunized. Dumama noted that some parents there are reluctant to immunize their children against diseases despite health officials' educational efforts. "They would tell us why subject their kids to [the] injection process of immunization when they are not sick at all," he said. Last Friday, government doctors vaccinated at least 63 children in the village of Kalanganan 1, and they are continuing an educational campaign in the area on the prevention of disease.
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