By Joelle Alison Mae P. Eusebio THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DOH) advised the public to “remain calm,” following the rise in number of Zika virus cases in the Philippines. After several testings done by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, DOH declared a total of 12 victims in the country, including a 22-year old pregnant, as of Sept. 26. In a press release, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said the victims did not have any travel history to any affected country a month before they had acquired the illness.
She explained that all 12 cases were transmitted through mosquito bites. While this confirmed the local transmission of the virus in the country, Ubial assured the public that Zika is not yet widespread. In an earlier interview, Ubial said that the virus is not fatal and would not lead into any serious disease. She said the Zika is just a mild illness, which she likened to the Chikungunya, another mosquito-transmitted disease that causes fever and severe joint pain. The case in Cebu which involves a pregnant 22-year old will be monitored regularly until the end of her pregnancy after undergoing an initial ultrasound that did not show any fetal abnormalities, Ubial furthermore said. DOH has sent response teams to Zika-affected areas to investigate the cases and recommend specific measures to evade further spread. In Iloilo, they had an indoor residual spraying and fogging to eliminate mosquitos. The Department also appealed to the local government units to look for methods that would help the public search and destroy mosquito breeding sites situated inside and around the people’s houses. E
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