MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) assured the public Friday there is no need to panic over the recent reports of cases of pneumonic plague in China since the disease is curable.
DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said there is no need for the public to worry as antibiotics can treat the pneumonic plague.
“Sa ngayon wala naman [dapat ikabahala] dahil unang una, ito naman pneumonic plague kung tawagin, ito naman ay nagagamot, meron naman tayong antibiotic (There is no need to worry for now because first of all, pneumonic plague is curable, we have antibiotics.),” Duque said in an interview on Radyo INQUIRER.
“Hindi naman ito katulad nung sinauna na wala antibiotics pa noon, yung pumatay ng 50 milyon katao sa mundo. Wala pang antibiotics noon. Eh ngayon meron na tayong antibiotics. Kaya kinakailangan nito, early detection, early diagnosis, fast treatment,” he added.
(This is unlike before when there were no antibiotics which killed 50 million people in the world. There were no antibiotics at the time. What this needs is early detection, early diagnosis and fast treatment.)
Two people from north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region were recently diagnosed with pneumonic plague, state news media Xinhua News earlier reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) describes pneumonic plague or lung-based plague as “the most virulent form of plague” which can be fatal if left untreated.
GSG