Marissa Santos’ son, Jan, had recovered from his episode of measles infection and spent the next five years living a normal life. But at six years old, Jan began having twitches and seizures.
At times, Jan would suddenly drop things that he was holding in his hands. His head would suddenly drop or he would be in a daze. Both Jan’s mother and teacher noticed, too, a decline in Jan’s performance in school.
Worried, Santos brought her son to an expert in pediatric neurology in the country, Dr. Marissa Lukban. In 2002, seven-year-old Jan was diagnosed with stage two subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a rare but progressive, disabling, and fatal brain disease.
According to Lukban, SSPE occurs in 0.5 to five cases per million population worldwide, although these figures depend on vaccination rates.
SSPE may occur when the measles virus mutates, Lukban said. Unrecognized by the body’s immune system, the virus enters the nerves, reaches the brain of a patient, and remains dormant until several years later when it reactivates.
Symptoms of SSPE include involuntary muscle movements, seizures, and behavioral changes including diminished performance in school.
With less than five percent of cases having remission, SSPE patients often eventually become unable to swallow, speak, see, hear, and interact with others.
The last stage of SSPE is characterized by coma or long coma.
“The nightmare for me then was when Dr. Lukban said that there was no cure for SSPE,” Santos said.
Marissa and Jan joined a support group in the hope of finding a cure for the disease.
However, after 10 years of enduring SSPE, Jan died in 2014 at 25 years old.
While a cure for SSPE has yet to be discovered, the best protection against this disease remains to be vaccination against measles.
“Vaccination is a protection against getting measles and if you haven’t had measles, you will not have SSPE. Complete the MMR vaccine and there should be a booster,” Lukban said.
Lukban also warned that high vaccine coverage needs to be sustained to prevent future measles outbreaks and SSPE cases.
“We had a campaign in 2004 but we also noticed that the cases increased and there were outbreaks, which only shows that if there is a program to vaccinate against measles, the program should be consistent and steady,” Lukban added.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents have been fearful of bringing their children outside their homes and have opted to postpone their children’s vaccination. Manpower and resources in public health have also been focused on the COVID-19 vaccination.
Dr. Anelyn Reyes, an infectious disease specialist, estimated that one in two children is not being vaccinated. According to the DOH, the national vaccination rate in 2021 was at 48.5 percent.
Reyes also cited a study that indicates three to four Filipino families are hesitant to have their children vaccinated due to misinformation on social media and lack of knowledge about vaccine safety.
The online forum titled ‘Baby Come Vax: Mga Bakunang Nalaktawan, Panahon nang Balikan’ is an activity under the Vax My Baby campaign.
The vaccine mobilization campaign aimed at improving routine immunization amid the COVID-19 pandemic under the partnership of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination, Metro Manila Development Authority, and GlaxoSmithKline Philippines, Inc.
Measles is a serious and highly contagious viral respiratory disease.
Its symptoms include high-grade fever, rashes, cough, conjunctivitis, and coryza, and can result in serious complications even among previously healthy children.
The virus that causes measles can mutate and cause fatal complications.
In the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) reported in 2020 that about 2.4 million children under the age of five are susceptible to measles.
