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Thursday, August 18, 2005
Health orders setting up of 'fast lanes' for dengue victims
ANTICIPATING more dengue cases in the country to appear in the next two to four weeks, the Department of Health (DOH) has told public and private hospitals to put up a "fast lane" counter for dengue victims.
Dr. Eric Tayag, chief of the National Epidemiology Center of the DOH said the counter in the medical institutions will be separate areas where persons suspected of having contracted dengue will be attended to.
With the "fast lane" counter, Tayag said diagnosis would be released within two hours.
At present, the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City and the San Lazaro Medical Center in Manila have put up a "fast lane" counter for dengue victims.
In recalling the 1998 dengue outbreak when 40,000 cases were recorded, Tayag said the St. Luke's Medical Center was a "mad house" because even the reception area had been turned and converted to an emergency room to accommodate the many dengue patients brought there.
Although Tayag is confident that the 1998 outbreak will not happen this year, he said it is imperative that all hospitals are prepared to handle a flood of dengue cases.
As of last August 11, the DOH-NEC has 189 deaths due to dengue and 14,142 cases of the mosquito-borne ailment. Forty-three percent of the patients are male and belong to the one to nine years old-age bracket.
Despite the huge number of people who have died or contracted dengue, the DOH has not declared a dengue epidemic but has only raised a nationwide alert.
He added that 100 barangays nationwide had been clustered to contain the spread of the disease. (MSN/Sunnex)
(August 18, 2005 issue)
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