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Saturday, November 27, 2004
P1.4M equipment for meningococcemia detection sought
By Ernie N. Olson Jr.
THE Baguio Health Department (BHD) has requested the City to purchase over P1.4 million worth of medical equipment and supplies needed to detect the presence of meningococcemia.
City Health Officer Florence Reyes said the use of the equipment and supplies can still be "maximized" even after this current outbreak "because these can also detect the presence of the causative agent of the sexually-transmitted disease (called) gonorrhea."
"Due to the current outbreak of clinically-diagnosed meningococcemia plaguing our city today, the Health Services Office requested for the purchase of a carbon dioxide incubator including initial materials, reagents and supplies needed for the procedure to detect the presence of Neisseria meningitidis, the causative agent of meningococcemia," Reyes said in her letter-request to Mayor Braulio Yaranon.
"The health services office laboratory, equipped with this (carbon dioxide incubator) machine, can also cater to cases of suspect meningococcemia in the Cordillera and other adjacent regions," she added.
This developed just as the latest update released by the City Epidemiology & Surveillance Unit (Cesu) revealed there were no new cases of the suspected disease as of Wednesday afternoon, while six patients earlier reported under observation at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) were found to be infected with either typhoid or dengue fever. Four others were also reported to be recovering quickly.
"The six patients reported under observation at the BGHMC were re-classified as (being infected with) typhoid fever and one as dengue fever," said Dr. Celia Flor Brillantes, Cesu head.
She added that although one of the patients still suspected of being infected with Neisseria meningitidis was still under observation, the four other suspected cases of the bacterial disease are now undergoing fast recovery.
(November 27, 2004 issue)
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