BY MAE SINGUAY
BACOLOD City – The city government reactivated its mpox team to step up surveillance efforts for the viral disease.
Mpox, caused by the monkeypox virus, can spread between people, mainly through close contact, and occasionally from the environment to people via things and surfaces that have been touched by a person with mpox, according to the World Health Organization.
Its symptoms include skin rashes or mucosal lesions, fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes.
Dr. Ma. Carmela Gensoli, head of the City Health Office (CHO), said the team is composed of the CHO, Bureau of Immigration, Liga ng mga Barangay, and bus company Vallacar Transit Inc.
Also part of the functions of the mpox team is to monitor all entry points in the city like ports and terminals.
Gensoli, meanwhile, noted that currently, Bacolod City and the whole Western Visayas have no records of the mpox virus.
Despite this, the CHO head advised the public to observe respiratory etiquette such as covering their mouth when coughing or sneezing; ensuring good airflow; washing of hands frequently with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer; and refraining from contact with individuals who have mpox or who are manifesting symptoms of the infection.
The Department of Health (DOH) reported the detection of two more mpox cases. The newly detected cases are a 26-year-old female from the National Capital Region or Metro Manila and a 12-year-old male from Calabarzon.
Currently, the total number of mpox cases in the Philippines stood at 14 since July 2022. But the DOH noted that only five of the 14 cases remain active and that the patients carry the milder type MPXV clade II.
Yesterday, the DOH released the updated guidelines to prevent, detect and manage mpox.
Department Memorandum No. 2024-0306, or the Updated DOH Mpox Guidelines, “provides a sufficient level of operational detail so that health system actors at all levels will have standard protocols to fight the re-emerging disease,” according to the agency.
The modified guidelines to deal with mpox include the following:
* All individuals shall avoid skin-to-skin or intimate contact with a person who is a suspected, probable, or confirmed carrier of the virus.
* If contact is unavoidable, the person must adhere to proper prevention and control measures, such as using personal protective equipment (PPE).
* Observe frequent and proper hand hygiene techniques, and make sure that objects or surfaces that may be contaminated by the virus are cleaned thoroughly.
* Avoid contact with animals, particularly mammals, that may be carriers of the virus.
* Healthcare personnel attending to a suspected, probable, or confirmed mpox case must wear PPE. (With a report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)/PN
