ILOILO City – The Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 could not yet declare an outbreak of the Japanese encephalitis.
Western Visayas has so far recorded 25 confirmed cases with four deaths – 12 from Iloilo province, seven from Antique, five from Capiz, and one from Iloilo City.
The fatalities were all from Iloilo, particularly from the towns of Leganes, Lemery, Barotac Nuevo, and Barotac Viejo.
DOH-6 data also showed that the 25 confirmed cases were part of the 256 suspected cases of acute meningitis encephalitis syndrome recorded since January this year.
As of this writing, DOH-6 was still waiting for the laboratory test results of the remaining 163 suspected cases.
The Japanese encephalitis virus is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito (Culex tritaeniorhynchus) which belongs to the same species that carries the dengue virus.
Most infected individuals experience mild symptoms. In severe cases, the symptoms include fever, headache and vomiting, followed by disorientation, seizures and coma.
Dr. Jane Juanico-Esteva, Medical Officer IV of DOH-6, said the recorded cases were not clustered but were individually isolated in different towns.
“We cannot declare an outbreak yet, especially if we map out the cases. So, it’s difficult to say there’s an outbreak,” Juanico-Esteva said.
The same was also observed in the timeline of recorded cases.
“Indi sia nagapunsok nga biglaan lang nagdamo ang kaso naton (The cases did not cluster and immediately spiked). We recorded around one case per week only, which is why tam-an pa ka temprano maghambal kita nga may (it is too early to say there is indeed an) outbreak of Japanese encephalitis,” she added.
There is currently no standard number of cases of Japanese encephalitis or threshold per region before an outbreak could be declared since Western Visayas had no cases of the disease in the previous years.
Despite this, Juanico-Esteva said the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) continues to monitor the situation.
DOH-6 also does not want people to panic because the disease may have already been present in the region, especially since the carrier is an endemic mosquito and no cases were detected due to the previous capacity constraints of the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) laboratory.
But this year, the subnational laboratory of the WVMC became capable of testing for Japanese encephalitis, thus the 25 cases were recorded.
“Maybe you had seen cases with symptoms similar to this disease before but were not properly labeled or confirmed then. Right now, in the region, at least we have a laboratory to determine cases of Japanese encephalitis,” Juanico-Esteva added in Hiligaynon.
DOH hopes for nat’l gov’t to procure vaccines
DOH-6 is hoping that the national government will procure vaccines against Japanese encephalitis.
Juanico-Esteva said there are three brands approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), adding that the rollout was previously piloted but took a halt due to issues surrounding the immunization program.
“We might have the development in the procurement of the vaccine since data itself showed an increase in cases and knowing that the fatality rate is at 20 to 30 percent. If our children are vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis, we know we could protect them,” said Juanico- Esteva.
While waiting to see if this will be part of the national government’s pipeline, she urged the public to practice the 4S strategy: search and destroy mosquito breeding sites; self-protection measures like wearing trousers and long-sleeved shirts and daily use of mosquito repellent; seek early treatment; and support fogging/spraying only in hotspot areas.
The DOH also uses this strategy in its campaign against dengue – a mosquito-borne viral infection that causes a severe flu-like illness that can sometimes be fatal. Its carriers are day-biting mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti) that live and breed in clean, stagnant water.
According to the WHO, individuals should suspect dengue when a high fever (40 degrees centigrade) is accompanied by two symptoms: severe headache, pain behind the eyes, nausea, vomiting, swollen glands, muscle and joint pains, and rashes.
The warning signs for severe dengue are severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, rapid breathing, bleeding gums, blood in the vomit, fatigue, and restlessness./PN
