ARMM health chief says cerebral malaria killed 15 in village

COTABATO CITY—At least 15 people died in what could be an outbreak of cerebral malaria in a remote village in Datu Blah Sinsuat, Maguindanao, that started last week, a government health executive said on Monday.

Dr. Kadil Sinolinding, health secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said health officials in the region considered the cases “very alarming” and that a team of health workers and epidemiologists had been sent to Barangay Nalkan.

Sinolinding said Datu Blah Sinsuat is a malaria-endemic (where malaria naturally occurs) area. He said while 15 people have been initially reported dead, health officials could not yet determine the exact number of deaths.

Sinolinding said health officials are now awaiting results of laboratory tests done on villagers.

Villagers stricken with the disease should be brought here as soon as possible, Sinolinding said.

Datu Blah Sinsuat is a coastal town facing the Moro Gulf and can only be reached by boat. The village stricken by the malaria strain is more remote.

Barangay Nalkan is in the upper portion of Datu Blah and could only be reached by foot or by horse, the lone mode of transportation in the area, Sinolinding said.

Also a mosquito-borne disease, dengue is currently wreaking havoc in Eastern Visayas, with Ormoc City having the highest number of cases.

The regional office of the Department of Health said there were at least 747 cases of dengue in Eastern Visayas recorded from January to October. The number of cases in Ormoc alone reached 343.

Four deaths in Ormoc had also been attributed to dengue. Last year, Ormoc had 212 dengue cases.

Health workers, however, said there was no cause for alarm over the increase in the number of dengue cases in Ormoc.

“We can now say that the situation is under control,” said Elias Jaca, sentinel nurse of the Ormoc City health department. Edwin O. Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao, and Joey Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas