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Sunday, January 16, 2005
Health team notes zero meningococcemia case last week
BAGUIO -- Things began to brighten up for Baguio this week as health monitoring teams registered no suspected meningococcemia cases from the city for a seven-day period -- January 9 until last Friday afternoon.
However, in Misamis Oriental a five-year-old child and a woman suspected to have been infected with the meningococcemia bacteria were already isolated in the Northern Medical Center (NMMC).
Aside from the two, another two children from El Salvador town in Misamis Oriwntal were likewise believed to have suffered meningococcemia and then admitted to the medical center.
Hospital officials, however, could not be reached for confirmation.
In Baguio City, the meningococcemia break came as a relief after an unusual increase of cases on the first week of the year wherein six hospital admissions were recorded, with two confirmed cases and one death, as reported by City Health officer Dr. Florence Reyes.
City and health authorities are keeping their fingers crossed as experts from the Department of Health (DOH), the National Epidemiological Center (NEC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) were analyzing the gathered data to help them determine the effectiveness of the measures taken to prevent the spread of the disease.
Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit, who met with Mayor Braulio Yaranon and local health officials last Thursday, said if there would be no new cases until tomorrow, the meningococcemia alert might be lowered.
The cut-off period on Monday is based on the incubation period of the disease, which is 10 days from the last suspected case admitted last January 7.
In the daily media briefing Thursday afternoon, Dayrit said one case was confirmed Wednesday in Itogon, Benguet and that there were no new suspect cases in Mt. Province since Jan. 6.
"As of today, health authorities are seeing a decreasing trend in the number of meningococcemia," Dayrit said in a press statement distributed during the briefing.
He pointed out that "the risk of contracting the disease is the same as that of dengue" and with the reduction in the number of cases, the risk of a Baguio resident contracting meningococcemia has also been lowered from 1 in 100,000 to 1 in 500,000.
"Anyone can still come to Baguio," Dayrit said. The DOH, however, discouraged any activity that will bring about crowding of people and favor emergence of sporadic cases.
To prove that it is safe to travel to Baguio, the secretary proceeded immediately to inspect the city market and buy vegetables and strawberries.
The city market was earlier pinpointed as a focus of the recent cases, prompting the local health office to dispense preventive medicines to vendors.
Yaranon, on the other hand, led other city officials, students and other sectors of the community in a parade with placards proclaiming that Baguio is safe from the dreaded disease.
In Saturday's briefing, Dr. Reyes attributed the weeklong zero record of cases to the dispensation of prophylactic medicines and the tracing by the city epidemiology and surveillance unit of people who were in direct contact with the suspected cases.
Arriving in time for the briefing, Dr. Eric Bertherat of the World Health Organization (WHO) admitted that the cold weather is a risk factor because it goes with infectious diseases such as common colds.
On whether the annual Baguio Flower Festival would push through as scheduled next month in view of the recent medical issue, Yaranon said the city will abide with recommendations of the health authorities.
City officials are expected to decide after Sunday's meeting whether to reset the staging of the 10th edition of the festival.
The meningococcemia scare has slowed down business in the city but residents are out to prove that the city can overcome the problem. (Ramon Dacawi with reports from Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro)
(January 16, 2005 issue)
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