Thursday, October 05, 2006 Low meningococcemia cases due to antibiotics: health exec By Rimaliza Opiña
THE downward trend in the number of meningococcemia cases recorded in the region could be attributed to the random distribution of antibiotics two years earlier, said Health Regional Director Myra Cabotaje on Wednesday.
Cabotaje said they might also classify meningococcemia as an endemic disease and not an epidemic as earlier declared when the disease hit the city and neighboring parts of the region in 2004.
She said most of the cases recorded did not involved children aged four years old and below and adults aged 60 years old and above who are identified as most susceptible to acquiring the disease.
Cordillera recorded 43 meningococcemia cases with nine fatalities this year. At least 410 cases of the disease have been recorded in the region since September 2004.
Forty percent of the cases happened in Benguet, 30 percent in Baguio, 16 percent in Mt. Province and one percent in Ifugao. Of the total, there were 85 fatalities, most of which were reported in Benguet and Baguio.
The lack of funds, however, prevented the health department from continuing with the random distribution of antibiotics to the public.
Cabotaje said antibiotic distribution is now limited to direct contacts and health personnel. The Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC), meantime, reportedly improved its diagnosis of the disease after identification of the type of serotype could now be determined without having to bring a sample of a patient's spinal fluid to the Regional Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for culturing.
In 2004, the City Council allotted funds for the purchase of equipment for the culturing of samples. In the 2005 annual budget, the city also included the City Epidemiological and Surveillance Unit (Cesu) as a regular unit of the City Health Services Office (CHSO).
There are 13 serotypes of meningococcemia, five of which are pathogenic or those that could spread diseases, namely serotype A, B, C, Y and W135. The B serotype is said to be common in the US and Latin American countries while serotype A is common in Asia, Africa and Europe.
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