As the Philippines locks down its 100-million population in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 infections the besieged Philippine health care system is drawing on experience gained last year from a deadly measles outbreak and a deadly dengue outbreak to cope with the escalating caseload.
With the number of COVID-19 infections increasing daily — the Philippines reported 71 new cases today (March 26) and seven deaths, while yesterday saw 142 active COVID-19 cases and 12 deaths — the rise of other infectious diseases is straing an already overwhelmed and under resourced public health system.
In addition to a galloping outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 the country recently reported its 17th polio patient in the last six months, an outbreak of H5N6 ‘bird flu’, and more dengue fever deaths, making the nation a virtual Petri dish of infectious diseases.
The current Philippines polio outbreak began on September 19 last year, 19 years after the country was declared free of the de disease, while the most recent case was detected in mid-February by the Department of Health in an infant boy in the Central Luzon region.
The one-year-old showed symptoms that included fever and a “sudden onset of weakness” in his left leg, health workers said. The health department also reported that samples collected from the Butuanon River in Cebu had tested positive for poliovirus.
The Philippines was certified polio-free country in October 2000, with the last case of wild poliovirus recorded there in 1993.
Vaccine-derived poliovirus
Poliovirus was first detected last year in Manila’s sewage when two sampling tests revealed the existence of vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV). The World Health Organization (WHO) said the VDPV is an excreted vaccine-virus that can circulate for an extended period of time.
Philippine health secretary, Dr Francisco Tiongson Duque III, said the findings were isolated samples from the environment, not from humans.
In response the health department and the WHO implemented a vaccination program from February 17 to March 1 in Mindanao and from February 24 to March 8 in Metro Manila, targeting children under the age of five.
“It is important that we are able to timely detect any acute onset of paralysis in children, especially within our communities. We have evidence that the poliovirus continues to spread. Our aim is to promptly diagnose and treat all possible polio cases”, Dr Duque said.
The WHO Southeast Asia region, which includes Thailand, Indonesia, and Myanmar, was declared free from polio in March 2014 after three years without a new case.
Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao, and the Philippines were certified polio free on October 29, 2000. The last indigenous case was a 15-month old girl who was paralysed in Cambodia in March 1997.
Bird flu and dengue
The Philippine public received more bad news on Tuesday when health officials reported an outbreak of avian influenza, or ‘bird flu’, in northern Nueva Ecija province.
The country’s agriculture chief, Dr William Dar, said tests at a quail farm detected the presence of the highly contagious H5N6 subtype of the influenza A virus. According to a regional news outlet Dr Dar said 12,000 quails had been destroyed and buried.
“We are on top of the situation”, he said, adding, “surveillance around a one kilometre (about 0.6 miles) and a seven kilometre (4.3 miles) radius will be carried out immediately to ensure that the disease has not progressed around the said perimeter.”
Another health concern facing the Philippines is dengue fever. While the government declared the national dengue epidemic over on January 22, the problem continues to fester with health officials reporting 15,817 dengue fever cases, including 45 deaths through February 7.
Although this represents a, 42 per cent reduction on the 27,245 cases in the same period in 2019, health officials are remaing vigilant. In 2019, the Philippines reported more than 400,000 dengue cases and more than 1,600 fatalities (See: Philippines hardest hit as dengue cuts a deadly path through Asean).
Feature photo One News PH
Related:
- Philippine health department records 17th polio case (GMA News)
- Wolbachia delivers a toxin-free death blow to rocketing dengue rates (video) (Asean News Today)
- 26 Filipinos in Japan, 1 Filipino in UAE confirmed to have COVID-19 (Eagle News)
- Troubling return (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Philippines hit with polio and bird flu as COVID-19 spreads added by Stella-maris Ewudolu on
View all posts by Stella-maris Ewudolu →
Stella-maris Ewudolu
Between November 2010 and February 2012 she was a staff writer at Daylight Online, Nigeria writing on health, fashion, and relationships. From 2010 – 2017 she worked as a freelance screen writer for ‘Nollywood’, Nigeria.
She joined AEC News Today in December 2016.
Latest posts by Stella-maris Ewudolu (see all)
- Zoonotic crossover fear sees Vietnam ban (almost) all wildlife trade (video) – July 26, 2020
- Job & revenue losses: COVID-19 to hurt Asean airlines the most – July 24, 2020
- Philippines morning news for July 24 – July 24, 2020
- Philippines morning news for July 23 – July 23, 2020