Sister of rubella-caused disease

appeals: ‘Get kids immunized’

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA)—Speaking as a daughter whose mother had a bout with German Measles and a sister of a brother with a mental health dis-order as an after effect of Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS), a public health doctor appeals to mothers who, after seeing viral social media posts, refused to have their kids immunized against measles and rubella (MR).

“As a doctor, as an ate, and as a sister of someone who lives with the consequences of congenital rubella, I hope that our story will not become your family’s story,” Dr. Shannen Jaye O. Langcamon, whose Facebook account is SJ OL, appealed for parents to look for proper information and health teaching rather than believing on fake news.

Dr. Langcamon’s shared in her facebok account that she has a mother who, in her childhood, did not have the privilege of getting fully immunized.

Being born from farming parents, her option of getting the vaccine from private clinics, was distant, she noted.

Sa pagkabata ni mama, dili pa kaayo kusog ang mga libre nga bakuna batok sa measles ug rubella sa centers/RHUs. (During mama’s childhood, free vaccines against measles and rubella from centers and Rural Health Units was not a trend yet, she narrated.

That time too, health information and health education was not as advanced that getting the full immunization was not on top of priorities.

When her mother got pregnant in 1997, in her first trimester of bearing a baby boy, she had German Measles or now commonly called Rubella.

One for the most dangerous effects for rubella, when a pregnant woman especially when gets it in her first trimester, is the effect it can give to a developing baby.

This is called Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS), she said.

When the baby boy was born, he was with a congenital deafness, deaf from birth, and he also has aphasia, a brain disorder that makes it hard to talk, write, and understand words.

The baby boy, named Brandon was later diagnoses with schizophrenia, a mental health disorder.

Ug mao kini ang condition nga among gituohan nga nahitabo kang Brandon, she said in her social media post. (This is the condition that we believed happened to Brandon.)

“Imagine if Mama had gotten full immunization in the 1970s, imagine if there was MR-simultaneous immunization activity (MR SIA) for measles and rubella then, will my brother be like this?”

Had Mama not contracted Rubella, maybe we do not have this fear when Brandon will have his schizophrenic acttacks. Yes, he will have tantrums at home.

She recalls countless vases shattered, how they can be wounded or bruised because he can just throw a punch, out of the blue.

Complicating the problem is the lack of a psych ward in Bohol hospitals for Brandon’s care, and Cebu may have beds but she has already seen how psychologists would have a problem diagnosing the patient who has difficulty in communicating his thoughts.

“If he had not been in this condition, maybe he could have been a seam, following Papa’s footsteps as a seaman and now a boat captain. Or he could have been a singer, a lawyer,” she shares her imagination.

And thus, she calls for parents: Please have your children vaccinated during this measles rubella simultaneous immunization activity. It is not just to protect your children, but the entire community, including pregnant women and vulnerable population.

“One vaccine may prevent a lifetime of complications, protect your children, protect your family,” she appealed.

Meanwhile, a practicing pediatrician for more than 2 decades said she can see the difference in her patient’s charts.

Between fully vaccinated and not fully vaccinated, those fully vaccinated patients have very minimal to no sick entry, while those not fully vaccinated or no vaccines at all has sick weekly entries, Dr. Ria Maslog shared in her facebook account.

“Mommies, science is research based, Vaccines work, Vaccines are safe. So protect your children! Be vaccinated!” she urged.

The MR SIA which is free, and continues until August 25, just go to your nearest rural health center or facility. (PIAbohol)

SCIENCE VERSUS FAKE NEWS. Department of Health (DOH) medial office Dr Faith Curaraton and nurse Machiavelia Caliao detailed the science behind the vaccines, which, through the years, have significantly controlled disease-spreads. However, an instigation by social media influencers to a naive population in enough to make parents doubt. (PIAbohol)