DOH told: Be aggressive in fight vs leptospirosis amid rising cases

Leptospirosis and DOH. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) must be aggressive in fighting leptospirosis amid a possible surge after recent floods, Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin said on Monday.

In a statement, Garin said there were alleged lapses on the part of the DOH as doxycycline, an antibiotic commonly used to prevent leptospirosis, was not delivered in provinces before the flooding occurred.

“Ang problema, may pondo naman para sa libreng doxycycline subalit ang availability on the grounds ay mahirap. Ito ay paulit-ulit natin na hinaing sa DOH pero pinapakinggan lang pero hindi naman [naaksyunan],” said Garin, a former Health secretary.

(The problem is, we have funds for free doxycycline but it is unavailable in some areas. This is a repeated appeal to the DOH, but it seems they are just listening to these issues but no response has been made.)

“Ang dapat doon, aggressive. Ipadala agad sa lugar at nandoon dapat ang gamot, hindi na pahirapan pa…This is a failure of appropriate and adequate public health communication,” she added.

(There should be aggressive action. Send the medicines to areas where these should have been pre-positioned in the first place, so these would be accessible.)

Garin also said the DOH should treat the rising cases of leptospirosis as a call to improve its information dissemination campaign, particularly on the disease when flooding is imminent.

“This is a wake-up call to the Department of Health to be more aggressive kasi sa panahon ngayon marami na ang fake news at dapat taboo ang fake news sa Department of Health kasi minsan kuryente rin ang nasasabing mga statement,” Garin said.

(This is a wake-up call to the Department of Health to be more aggressive because during these times when fake news spreads, misinformation should be taboo to the department because people are sometimes affected by misleading statements.)

Last Friday, the DOH ordered all hospitals in the National Capital Region (NCR) to activate their “leptospirosis surge capacity plan” to better respond to the rising number of cases.

The department also directed all DOH hospitals to utilize common referral forms made available online and update the names and contact details of their referral focal persons with the Health Emergency Management Bureau’s operations center by Aug. 13.

READ: Make plans for leptospirosis surge, DOH tells hospitals

Garin also said the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) has already experienced an influx of leptospirosis cases, with 67 patients admitted, including 11 in the pediatric section, as of Aug. 9.

Reports said the NKTI’s emergency room is also at overcapacity, forcing it to convert its gymnasium into a leptospirosis ward for 40 patients, while plans to open another ward for 15 more are ongoing.

Garin said the proper response would have been to ask individuals who waded through floodwaters, even those without wounds, to take doxycycline within 72 hours after exposure.

READ: Red Cross team deployed amid leptospirosis surge

The DOH said there were 67 cases of leptospirosis from July 14 to July 27, bringing the total number to 1,444 this year, with 162 of the patients dying. With reports from Ysabel Escalona, trainee