FILE PHOTO: Pro-environment group Ecowaste Coalition launches “Iwas Paputoxic” in Barangay Central, Quezon city, on December 30, 2023, to encourage people to avoid firecrackers to usher in the New Year. INQUIRER/LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines — Fireworks-related injuries (FWRI) increased to 557 on Wednesday as the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 114 new cases.
In an advisory, DOH said the 114 new cases were logged from 6 a.m. on January 2 to 5:59 a.m. on January 3.
The youngest case is a 10-month-old baby from Metro Manila or National Capital Region (NCR) whose right eye was injured by kwitis lit inside their home.
The oldest case, meanwhile, is a 77-year-old male from the Ilocos region who sustained burns from a whistle bomb launched by someone else inside their house.
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The advisory showed nearly nine of 10 or 98 percent of the 114 new cases were males.
“Ninety-seven percent (111, 97%) of these new cases occurred at home and in the streets. The majority (59, 52%) of cases were due to legal fireworks. Ten (9%) individuals were hospitalized due to their injuries,” DOH likewise indicated.
Of the total FRWI, 555 were due to lit fireworks; one was because of watusi ingestion, and another was due to a stray bullet.
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“More than half of cases come from NCR (306, 55%). Following NCR in rank as to [the] number of cases are Ilocos Region (55, 10%), Central Luzon (42, 8%), and Calabarzon (39, 7%),” DOH said, adding that most of the incidents happened at home and in the streets, and involved males.
The department also said 64 percent of the FWRI were caused by government-allowed fireworks kwitis, whistle bombs, luces, and fountains, and illegal fireworks 5-star, pla-pla, and boga.
5-star, pla-pla and boga only caused four of 10 cases (216 and 39%), “with legal fireworks causing more injuries,” according to DOH.
It added that 150, or 27 percent, of the cases were eye injuries, including one that led to blindness. It also noted of 28 amputation cases and two cases of hearing loss, which respectively accounted for five percent and 0.36 percent of the tally.
The lone case of injury due to stray bullet represent 0.18 percent of the total.
The DOH further said that 266 (48 percent) of the injured were under 18 years old.
The DOH explained that the types of injuries will not exactly add up to the overall record of FWRI, as some patients sustained multiple wounds.