Ebola Control Measures up
Volume XVIII No. 5 (November 8-14, 2014)
BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio Domogan met with the city health and private medical authorities last week to firm up plans against the Ebola virus, if ever the dreaded disease enters the city through travelers from infected countries.
Health authorities and medical practitioners from the Saint Louis University Sacred Heart Hospital (SLUSHH), Notre Dame de Lourdes Hospital (NDLH), Pines City Doctors Hospital (PCDH), Baguio Medical Center (BMC), the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) attended the briefing Tuesday morning.
Newly-appointed Health Services Officer Rowena Galpo represented the Baguio Health Department.
Family members or relatives from overseas, moreover from Ebola-infected countries such as Liberia or Sierra Leone are advised to undergo quarantine for 21 days, which is the incubation period; the mayor said.
Once flu or dengue-like symptoms are observed, even at the private hospitals, a physician assigned to Ebola cases evaluates and confines the patient at a specially-equipped BGHMC room.
An ambulance with special facilities is ready for patient transport to San Lazaro Hospital, with a protective partition between the passenger and driver’s area, the mayor assured, A health committee is assigned to monitor said cases, it was known.
Not even the most modern hospital or advanced technologies have discovered vaccine or control to Ebola, the mayor said, as he warned that the disease is deadly. However, we should not panic, but do precautionary measures, he said.
According to Mayor Domogan, only Saint Luke’s Hospital, Manila is authorized and has committed to conduct researches to develop an Ebola vaccine.
Ebola, could be transmitted through close contact with blood, secretion or bodily fluids from infected person and is not airborne, it was known. Care, however should be taken as there could be mutations which may transmit the virus.
Symptoms are similar to Dengue fever or flu: fever, sore throat, muscle pain, headache which may progress to vomiting, diarrhea with a noticeable rash. After some time, there may be failure of the liver and kidneys, and internal bleeding or bleeding from bodily openings.
The mayor rued the situation with then Meningococcemia in 2004 as panic spread over the city. That shouldn’t have happened if proper preparations were done and correct information given, he said./juliegfianza
