More provinces grapple with chikungunya cases

ILOILO CITY—Health authorities and local officials in Antique and Kidapawan City in North Cotabato have warned of and stepped up efforts to stop the spread of the chikungunya disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) described chikungunya as a viral disease transmitted by the same dengue-carrying species of mosquitoes—Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus—that affects mainly adults.

It was discovered in the Philippines in the 1990s, according to the Department of Health’s (DOH) National Epidemiology Center, but it was first reported in southern Tanzania, where an outbreak occurred in 1952. It was there where it got its name, which in the Kimakonde language means “to become contorted” because victims stooped due to their joint pains, WHO said.

Like dengue, its symptoms include fever, rashes, headache, nausea, fatigue and acute and long-term arthritis in several joints. It is not as deadly as dengue, though.

In Antique, chikungunya has spread to eight of the province’s 10 towns, with the provincial health office recording 525 suspected cases as of July 1.

There had been 57 confirmed infections also as of July 1, according to Dr. Ric Noel Naciongayo, Antique’s provincial health officer.

He said Patnongon town had the most suspected cases with 313, followed by Tibiao (77), Sebaste (74), Culasi (38), Barbaza (14), Belison (6), Tobias Fornier (2) and San Jose (1).

Of the confirmed cases, 45 were from Patnongon and 12 from Culasi, but no patient has died from the disease so far, Naciongayo said.

In Barangay Magsaysay in Kidapawan City, four of nine suspected chikungunya cases had been confirmed, according to Dr. Hansel Amoguis, chief of the North Cotabato Provincial Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit.

Amoguis said laboratory samples taken from the suspected victims were sent earlier to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Manila.

He said while chikungunya can also be fatal, it is not as deadly as dengue fever.

WHO said preventing the spread of chikungunya also requires the eradication of mosquito breeding sites.

“The proximity of mosquito breeding sites to human habitation is a significant risk factor for chikungunya,” said WHO in an advisory in 2008.

The DOH Cordillera office has recorded an outbreak of chikungunya in Lamut, Ifugao, with 703 cases.

In Isabela, Dr. Maria Asuncion Gabatino, Benito Soliven municipal health officer, said at least 100 people in the town showed symptoms of chikungunya in June. Reports by Nestor Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas; Williamor Magbanua and Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao; and Villamor Visaya, Inquirer Northern Luzon