Execs dismiss fears of diphtheria case in Bataan town

DINALUPIHAN, Bataan –– Local officials on Tuesday allayed fears of possible diphtheria case in this town after a four-year-old boy manifested symptoms of the dreaded disease.

Vice Mayor Renato Matawaran, chair of the municipal council’s committee on health, said the boy was taken to the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila after he reportedly fell sick with sore throat and cough.

Matawaran, who is also a medical doctor, said a sample of the laboratory specimen from the boy tested negative for diphtheria.

The boy’s profile also showed that he had been given anti-diphtheria vaccines twice in the past, Matawaran said.

Diphtheria is an infectious disease caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae that infects the throat and upper airways.

Mayor Ma. Angela Garcia assured residents that they have intensified efforts to protect them from contracting the highly communicable bacterial infection. Greg Refraccion