Hospital ready vs entry of EV-71

THE Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC), a Level 4 government hospital, has been placed on alert against the entry of Enterovirus 71 (EV-71).

Dr. Maribel Felisariom, ZCMC information officer, said they have received two instructions from the Department of Health (DOH) central office regarding EV-71.

The first instruction is to monitor just in case there will be an admission and second is to reinforce the infection control measures such as hand hygiene, Felisario said.

Felisario said the ZCMC is ready to attend to patients afflicted with EV-71, citing they have isolation rooms for EV-71 patients.

EV-71 causes hand, foot, and mouth diseases and can be very fatal to people who come in contact with it often resulting in death.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease is a common infectious disease among infants and children. It spreads from person to person by direct contact with nose or throat discharges, saliva, fluid from blisters, or the feces of the infected, according to medical findings.

EV-71 early symptoms include high fever, difficulty in breathing, and neurological problems, leading to rapid deterioration of the respiratory function.

Felisario urged parents to immediately bring their children to the hospital for proper medication once they fell sick and show symptoms of EV-71.

Meanwhile, second district Representative Erico Basilio Fabian has called out the attention of village officials and parents of children particularly those living in crowded blighted areas to check and clean their surroundings as the EV-71 virus prospers in dirty and unsanitary conditions.

Fabian, who is a nurse by profession, said parents particularly must constantly monitor the health and well-being of their children, and at the earliest signs of the symptoms, bring their children to the hospital for medical attention. (Bong Garcia)