MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH)
is investigating the case of a five-year-old child from Wuhan City in China after
testing positive for a non-specific pancorona virus.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a press conference on Tuesday the
child was recently admitted at a hospital in Cebu City for “manifesting fever,
throat irritation and cough.”
“Samples from the boy, who experienced fever, throat irritation and cough, tested negative for MERS-COV and SARS, but tested positive for “non-specific pancoronavirus,” Duque III told reporters.
According to Dr. Ferchito Avelino, director of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau, the child arrived in Cebu City last Jan. 12 “to make arrangements to study English. The child was confined at a hospital the same day, he added.
Pancoronavirus is a test that detects
any coronavirus, but cannot identify the particular strain.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses ranging from the common cold to
more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), according to the World Health
Organization.
A new strain of coronavirus was recently discovered in Wuhan and has infected 218 people.
Specimen from the patient in Cebu City was sent to specialists in Australia to identify which coronavirus strain he carried, said Duque.
The child “is still experiencing cough but is currently stable,” he added.
The DOH is also monitoring three other individuals from China who had flu-like symptoms when they landed at the Kalibo airport in Aklan, he said.
The trio had no history of travel to Wuhan or contact with any patient of the new coronavirus or sick animals, said Duque.
Coronaviruses were previously thought to be transmitted between animals and people. However, the new China virus is contagious among humans, its health officials confirmed.
Common symptoms of coronavirus infection include cough, fever, shortness of breath and breathing difficulty. In severe cases, it can cause pneumonia, acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death, said Duque.
The public should wash their hands frequently, avoid contact with wild animals and people with flu-like symptoms, and cover the mouth or nose when coughing and sneezing, he said. (With a report from ABS-CBN News/PN)
