It’s malaria, not ebola
No need to panic over sick peacekeeper from Liberia
The Filipino peacekeeper who returned from Liberia with fever and chills is not sick with ebola, but he tested positive of having malaria, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.
“Negatibo po ang ebola test sa ating pasyente subalit ikinalulungkot nating malaman na positibo siya sa malaria (Our patient tested negative for ebola. Unfortunately, he is positive of having malaria),” Acting Health Secretary Janette Garin revealed in a press conference at the National Kidney Transplant Institute (NKTI).
Last Friday, Garin said results of the ebola test would be available in 48 hours.
However, the health team at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, which conducted the test on the peacekeeper, said the results leave no doubt in their minds.
Unequivocal test results RITM Director Soccorro Lupisan said findings that the patient has malaria and not ebola is “unequivocal” and there is “no need for another examination.”
“May nakita pong plasmodium falciparum sa kanyang dugo (Plasmodium falciparum [a parasite] was found in his blood),” said Garin, explaining that it is a parasitic organism that causes malaria.
She said that such a condition can lead to a more serious illness if not immediately treated as it could affect a patient’s brain.
The good thing, she said, is that the treatment has begun even before the patient has started to develop any complications.
Lupisan said the patient will be at the RITM for a minimum of three to five days or a maximum of a week, depending on his recovery from malaria.
Don’t panic Earlier in the day, Malacañang urged the public to remain calm as health authorities were attending to the Filipino peacekeeper initially feared to have contracted the deadly ebola virus.
“Huwag po tayong mag- panic. Asahan lang po natin ‘ yung reliable information mula sa ating pamahalaan ( Do not panic. We should only depend on reliable information from the government),” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said over government radio dzRB.
Valte said the DOH is handling the situation and that government is making sure that all the precautionary measures are undertaken to properly address any suspected case of ebola.
“We want to be sure that we’re following all the protocols to avoid any disinformation or any panic on the part of our general public,” she added.
No family visits Meanwhile, the patient’s family still cannot visit him at the RITM even if he has been declared Ebola-free.
Garin said that he has to finish the quarantine period because there is always a chance of having the virus if a person has not passed the 21-day incubation period yet.
The other day, Garin said that he will finish the quarantine at the hospital. She, however, stated yesterday that after recovering from Malaria, the patient will be brought back to Caballo Island.
Quarantine for OFWs Garin said all overseas Filipino workers from the three West African countries who will come home to Philippines in the future will undergo a “mandatory quarantine” to protect the country from Ebola.
As of the moment, there are only “three or four” Filipinos who plan to come home from West Africa.
Garin told the Manila Bulletin that they already have an idea where to put the OFWs but they will disclose it only when a final decision has been made.
AFP welcomes news The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) welcomed the DOH report that the Filipino peacekeeper is not ebola-positive.
“We are very happy that he is declared as ebola virus-free,” said Lt. Col. Harold M. Cabunoc, the AFP public affairs office (PAO) chief.
Cabunoc added the AFP is hopeful that all peacekeepers currently under quarantine in Caballo Island will come out free of the dreaded virus so that they can be with their family soon.
He is one of the 133 peacekeepers who arrived in the country early Wednesday evening. The AFP has stressed that the troops – 108 soldiers, 24 Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel, and a member of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) – have all passed an Ebola screening test conducted by UN doctors prior to their repatriation.