Philippines dengue outbreak a nat’l epidemic
East Congo’s Ebola outbreak tests flexibility of response
MANILA, Philippines, Aug 7, (Agencies): The Philippines’ Department of Health on Tuesday declared the country’s outbreak of dengue to be a national epidemic.
The agency said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III made the declaration to improve the response to the outbreak by allowing local governments to draw on a special Quick Response Fund.
It said the Philippines recorded 146,062 cases of dengue from January through July 20 this year, 98% more than the same period in 2018. It said the outbreak caused 622 deaths.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection found in tropical countries worldwide. It can cause joint pain, nausea, vomiting and a rash, and can cause breathing problems, hemorrhaging and organ failure in severe cases. While there is no specific treatment for the illness, medical care to maintain a person’s fluid levels is seen as critical.
Campaign
The Department of Health said that starting Tuesday, it was conducting a campaign to focus on finding and destroying mosquito breeding sites, which is a primary means of containing dengue. Other government agencies, local government units, schools, offices and communities will join in the effort, it said.
Other Southeast Asian countries have also reported an upsurge in dengue cases this year, according to the UN’s World Health Organization. The organization said Malaysia had registered 62,421 cases through June 29, including 93 deaths, compared to 32,425 cases with 53 deaths for the same period last year. Vietnam over the same period had 81,132 cases with four deaths reported, compared to 26,201 cases including six deaths in 2018.
In South Asia, Bangladesh has been facing its worst-ever dengue fever outbreak, putting a severe strain on the country’s already overwhelmed medical system.
Deo Bakulu has been washing his hands every chance he gets since Ebola reached eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s main city of Goma last month.
But the washing station set up by local authorities near his home is only open from 8 am to 6 pm, from Monday through Saturday, and he doesn’t have running water.
“Does Ebola only spread during the day?,” he asked ironically as a health official at a different station aimed an infrared thermometer at his temple. “What about on Sundays?”
Goma, a city of nearly 2 million people, is on high alert after the first transmission of the virus within it was confirmed last week. That raised fears the outbreak could spread within the densely-populated city and beyond via its border with Rwanda and the international airport.
A gold miner carried the virus from the epicentre of the epidemic, which is several hundred kilometres (miles) to the north. He spent a week at home ill with his wife and 10 children before being transferred to hospital, where he died the next day. His wife and daughter then tested positive for the disease.
Goma has had time to get ready for Ebola, given a nearly year-long head start as the disease raged near the cities of Beni and Butembo. Most residents appear to have taken the latest developments in their stride, queuing up at the dozens of washing stations set up on sidewalks by the government and private businesses and avoiding shaking hands.
Still, there are shortcomings in the preparations, and medics are encountering some of the same suspicion and hostility they have faced in other outbreak hotspots. In the current epidemic, the virus has killed more than 1,800 people, the second-highest toll ever.