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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – The total number of Zika virus infections in this city rose to seven with four new cases confirmed by the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday.
Of the seven cases, three were from just one household – the index case (a 45-year-old woman) and two members of her household.
“Yung apat, kumukuha pa kami impormasyon at inaalam namin kung may kinalaman…Subalit sa nakuhang impormasyon ng aming team, wala ho kinalaman ‘yun sa unang tatlong kaso (We are still getting information if the four cases were related, but so far we think they were all unrelated),” said DOH assistant secretary Eric Tayag in a press briefing held at the department’s main office in Manila yesterday.
DOH announced the four new Iloilo Zika cases following the confirmation from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.
Tayag said the new cases detected were 10 kilometers away from the residence of the index case in Barangay Benedicto, Jaro district.
All persons involved had no history of travel to other countries within a month from the onset of the illness, he added.
Tayag said there were two other new cases – one in Cebu City and in Laguna province. These bring the total number of Zika cases in the Philippines to nine this September.
The ages of those infected were nine to 45 years old. Six were females and none of them were pregnant, said Tayag.
Today, Tayag is expected to visit this city, according to Dr. Marlyn Convocar, DOH regional director, and talk more about the new Zika cases in Iloilo.
Convocar said yesterday she had no idea about the identities of the four new Iloilo Zika cases.
“All cases presented with skin rashes accompanied by joint pains or fever or conjunctivitis, and are expected to have recovered by this time,” said Health secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial when reached for clarification.
The Health chief also said she sent more quick response teams to Iloilo to gather more information about the new cases.
“We are expecting the number of reported cases to increase as we continue sending our quick response teams,” Tayag said.
He also clarified that DOH does not consider classifying the reported cases under active transmission status.
“Maganda senyales (no active transmission) kasi ibig sabihin pwedeng pigilan ang pagdami o pagkalat ng Zika sa iba pang lugar na ‘di pa nagre-report (No active transmission is a good sign because that means we can prevent the spread of the virus),” he added.
Active transmission status happens when the case has become widespread and becomes harder to detect how it was transmitted – either by mosquito bite or sexual transmission.
There is also active transmission if the cases were over two weeks and the case is not confined to one area alone, explained Tayag.
Ubial, meanwhile, reminded Ilonggos to observe the 4S strategy against the Zika vector – Aedes mosquitoes that also transmit viruses that cause dengue and chikungunya. The strategy involves:
(1) search and destroy mosquito breeding places
(2) self-protection measures like using insect repellent and mosquito bed nets especially at day time, as well as the use of condom for protection against this sexually transmitted infections (Zika virus can be transmitted thru sex)
(3) seek early consultation for skin rashes and fever, joint pain or red eyes, and
4) say yes to fogging when there is an impending outbreak.
Friday last week, DOH and the City Health Office started “indoor residual spraying” against Aedes mosquitoes in Barangay Benedicto, Jaro.
Inside residual spraying is the application of long-acting chemical insecticides on the walls and roofs of houses and domestic animal shelters in a given area to kill the adult vector mosquitoes that land and rest on these surfaces. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
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