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Friday, May 16, 2003
US balikbayan not a Sars case: DOH Caraga
By Rubelyn Yap, Louie Oranda
BUTUAN CITY--Residents here expressed fears that a balikbayan from the US who is confined at the Butuan Doctor's Hospital may have contracted the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars).
Dr. Maria Flordeliz Llesis, a medical officer of the Department of Health (DOH) Caraga region, said the 45-year-old woman patient worked as a nurse at a hospital in California.
Llesis, chief of the SARS emergency team in Caraga region said the victim arrived in the country last May 9 and then got sick on reaching Butuan City.
Meanwhile in Cagayan de Oro, regional health officials said they have raised the city's protest before the DOH central office against the designation of the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) as a Sars referral center in Region 10.
During last Monday's regular session DOH representative Dr. Remedios Ortegosa told the City Council that DOH 10 Regional Director Marietta Fuentes went to Manila to raise the matter to the central office.
"She has a meeting with secretary (Manuel) Dayrit and I think she brought with her the resolution to let secretary knew about it," she said.
While the matter is being discussed there, Dr. Ortegosa said they have undertaken their own preparations in dealing with persons suspected of contracting Sars.
Only pneumonia
And in Butuan Llesis said the patient was admitted last May 12 after she suffered a high fever.
"No, dili ni kaso sa Sars ang iyang sakit. Usa kini ka bacterial pneumonia lamang ug dili virus pneumonia nga mao ang Sars," Llesis said. (No, it's not Sars she's suffering from. It's a bacterial pneumonia only and not a virus pneumonia which is Sars.)
Llesis said she consulted the attending doctors and on discussion felt relieved because the patient positively responded to antiobiotics.
The doctor said they have received several reports of Sars cases and in this particular incident she is sure that the woman patient is only suffering from pneumonia and not from the dreaded disease.
As such, Llesis said there is no Sars case in Butuan.
Back in Cagayan de Oro, Dr. Ortegosa said they are closely monitoring through municipal, city and provincial health officers for any SARS cases in Northern Mindanao.
"We already gave them instructions on what to do," she said.
However, Councilor Mary Anne Enteria stressed that a resolution they filed protesting the designation of the NMMC as a Sars referral center should prevail over Executive Order 201 issued by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
In response, Ortegosa said the designation of the NMMC as a Sars referral center is a mandate issued by the President herself through Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit who had just been appointed SARS crisis manager.
At risk
Ortegosa said they are only waiting for word from their central office on NMMC's designation. She said the NMMC already had its so-called Sunshine building which would house Sars patients.
A Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) team inspected the building and would issue results of their findings soon.
"Prepared naman siya (It's already prepared) and we already give instructions to our medical team," she said. Ortegosa said of the 100 patients infected with Sars 96 percent have survived while only four percent died.
Still Enteria said it is alright if the Sars patients come from Cagayan de Oro but they wouldn't allow Sars patients from the region.
Councilor Edgar Cabanlas later said the Sars issue is local and it involves everybody.
"Gikonsulta unta ang mga local officials on the decision of (designating) the NMMC as the isolation area kay naa man kana nahimutang sa syudad (The local officials should have been consulted on the decision of designating the NMMC as the isolation area). You should not put us in danger," Cabanlas told Ortegosa.
Ortegosa said the best thing they can do now is to monitor and curtail the movements of overseas workers coming from SARS-plagued nations. In cases of emergency she said the patients should be brought to the NMMC.
(May 16, 2003 issue)
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