Rumors slither into, mar deworming plan

Department of Health Region 9 showed a mat of Albendazole, a generic drug given to children. The small blister pack is a branded but expired Albendazole Benzol recovered from a woman in Dipolog City.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Was it a case of mass hysteria? Or was it because the children indeed had worms?

The Department of Health’s (DOH) deworming campaign, targeting 16 million schoolchildren, was marred with parents bringing their kids to hospitals in several provinces in Mindanao.

On Wednesday, some 3,600 school children were rushed to hospitals after taking deworming pills. But the DOH said of the number, only 351 were admitted while 226 were brought to emergency rooms for observation.

Dr. Ruby Constantino, DOH assistant regional director for Western Mindanao, said some parents panicked after receiving reports that some children were brought to hospitals as a result of the deworming.

Doctor Cheng Rebollos of DOH 9 showed the difference of Albendazole, a mat type issued by DOH and the branded Benzol recovered from Dipolog City, an expired med.

False reports

Earlier on Wednesday, a radio station in Pagadian City reported that 10 children died after taking the deworming pills in Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur.

Dumingag Mayor Nacianceno Pacalioga said as soon as he heard about the report, he sent his staff to check “and we found out it’s not true.”

These reports may have caused the panic, prompting parents to let their children drink milk, coconut milk and even coconut oil.

For Constantino, the usual side reactions of the deworming pills–stomach pain, nausea and vomiting “may have been worsened by the milk, coconut milk or coconut oil that the parents let their children drink.”

Dr. Sitti Amilhasan, of the regional DOH’s infectious diseases division, said parents who learned their children took the deworming pill Albendazole, forced their children to drink coconut milk, milk or coconut oil.

“That was the immediate remedy they took believing their children might have been poisoned,” Constatino said.

“That aggravated the situation and the reason why the number (of children brought to hospitals) increased,” Amilhasan added.

Ruby Constantino, assistant regional director of DOH9 shows the expired Benzol taken from a woman in Dipolog City. She said DOH is not issuing Benzol a branded medicine, but a generic, Albendazole.

Expired pills?

Constantino also denied reports that the medicines administered to the children were already expired, contrary to what an online news site reported.

She said the expired deworming pill, which originated from Dipolog City, carried the brand Benzol. She said the DOH uses the generic Albendazole.

“A mother showed us two blister caps of Benzol, which she claimed was given to her by a man who told her to let her kids take it. Out of fear, she handed the medicine when she learned it was already expired,” Constantino said.

“What we have here is generic Albendazole with expiry date July 2017,” Constantino said at a press conference yesterday.

Constantino said the Pagadian City-based radio journalist has also issued a public apology for his erroneous report on the deaths of 10 children after taking the deworming pill.

On Wednesday, thousands of children were brought to hospitals in the cities of Pagadian, Dipolog and Dapitan, and the towns of Kabasalan, Buug, Alicia and Margosatubig in Zamboanga Sibugay; Diplahan, Dumingag and Dimataling in Zamboanga del Sur, Polanco and Pinas in Zamboanga del Norte.

There were also reports of children being rushed to hospitals in the cities of Tangub and Iligan.

But in Kidapawan City in North Cotabato, where close to 10,000 school children from public elementary schools received deworming medicines on Wednesday, not one was brought to the hospital.

Vivien Calica, the school nurse in Kidapawan City Pilot Elementary School, said before giving the children the deworming tablets, they were told to avoid hyperactivity as it could complicate the deworming process.

Stomachaches, headaches and vomiting are normal side effects of deworming, said Calica.

The school nurse advised parents not to panic. Julie S. Alipala with a report from Williamor Magbanua, Inquirer Mindanao