Monday, July 26, 2004 Health officials: Malaria outbreak contained By Allen V. Estabillo
GENERAL SANTOS -- Health officials said the malaria outbreak in South Cotabato that killed one person and downed 122 others in the province over the last six weeks has been contained.
Dr. Conrado Braņa, South Cotabato provincial hospital chief, said no new cases of the mosquito-borne disease were recorded after they successfully quarantined the affected villages in the towns of Lake Sebu, T'boli, Tantangan, Tupi and Banga.
"The situation is now under control and there has been no resurgence of new cases and secondary infections," he said.
Malaria is a serious, sometimes fatal, disease caused by a parasite. Humans get malaria from the bite of a malaria-infected mosquito.
Symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur.
Areas that earlier placed under quarantine for malaria were Barangays Kematu, Edwards and Zigzag in T'boli, Tacub and El Ulit in Tantangan, Sitio Mambusong in Barangay Cebuano, Tupi and Sitio Lambukay in Barangay Lamba, Banga.
Braņa said that based on their monitoring, most of the malaria cases were traced from communities in Columbio and Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat where malaria is considered to be more endemic than in South Cotabato.
He said at least 27 miners from T'boli town earlier turned out positive for malaria after working for several weeks at a small-scale mining site in Columbio.
Braņa said the lone fatality recorded by the provincial hospital showed that the patient was living near a malaria-endemic community at the boundary of Columbio, Sultan Kudarat and Tampakan town in South Cotabato.
He said the malaria patient, whom he did not identify, died from cerebral malaria and pneumonia complications.
Braņa, however, said they would continue with the massive information dissemination and implementation of several preventive activities against the disease due to the continuing rainy season.
He warned that the continuing rains make the malaria-carrying mosquitoes to thrive more and could eventually trigger another outbreak.
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