DOH: Firecracker-related injuries now at 141

A young boy from Navotas City became the latest victim of firecracker ingestion as the Department of Health recorded 141 firecracker-related injuries, mostly children, on Saturday.

In its update, the agency said this brings to two the number of firecracker ingestion cases in its monitoring of firecracker-related injuries during the holidays.

In Navotas City, a four-year-old boy was tricked by his brother to eat a Pop-pop firecracker last Friday. The child was treated at the Tondo Medical Center.

The DOH said the 141 cases so far is 36 percent lower than the five-year average and 34 percent lower than the figures for the same period last year.

Aside from the lone case of stray bullet injuries in Nueva Vizcaya reported earlier, there were no additional cases or deaths so far prior to the country’s merry-making for the New Year.

The agency noted that 109 cases or 78 percent of the victims were children aged 15 years old and below. Victims were as young as three while the oldest victim was 68 years old.

The DOH added that of the 111 victims who were active users of firecrackers, 90 were aged 15 and younger.

Most of the victims were males, with 129 males, while 111 victims suffered blast injuries without any need for amputation.

Most of the injuries were hand injuries at 90 cases or 65 percent, followed by eye injuries at 28 cases or 20 percent.

The piccolo, a banned but popular firecracker, was still the primary culprit for 78 cases or 56 percent, followed by the boga which caused injuries in 14 cases or 10 percent.

Metro Manila recorded the higest number of cases at 73, followed by Western Visayas which had 16 incidents. Calabarzon came in third with 13 cases.

It may be recalled that the DOH began its monitoring of firecracker-related injuries last Dec. 21, which will last until Jan. 5.

The agency started its “Iwas Paputok” campaign in the first week of December.

The DOH is encouraging people to use safe merry-making instruments and alternative noise-makers instead of firecrackers to welcome the New Year.

Last year, the agency recorded 932 firecracker-related injuries nationwide from Dec. 21, 2015 to Jan. 5, 2016, with one death due to an exploding “Goodbye Philippines” firecracker.