[SCIENCE] Health Watch

WRITTEN BY: MARIE NELLE C. LUMAGSAO

To feel fed-up on countless reports about crimes, corruption, politics and health is no longer a Greek thing to us. Health concerns, moreover, have been a recurring problem to a lot of nations including the Philippines. These issues have been way too alarming in the recent year because health in our nation has come to its flare-up, to consider a booming number of ill health cases every Juan has experienced. Let’s check-up on some of the health issues that affected and continuously affect Filipinos.

Zika Virus Attack

It was when a 45-year-old married woman from Iloilo City who has not migrated or even gone abroad was confined in a local hospital on Aug. 31, 2016 with symptoms of rashes and joint pains without a fever when the very first Zika case was reported in the country after an outbreak hit Singapore a month before. DOH officials reported the first confirmed local transmission of Zika in the country in September 2016.

Zika is transmitted mostly by a bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. People infected with this will experience symptoms including mild fever, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache. It has been linked to the birth defect mocrocephaly. In a Rappler report on Thursday, February 2, there are now 57 cases of Zika virus in the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

HIV Cases Go Rampant

With 750 new cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that were recorded in December 2016, according to the Department of Health (DOH), obviously this disease has gone rampant. Based on the latest HIV/AIDS Registry of the Philippines, of the 750 cases, 72 developed into full-blown Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). This is according to a report published on Inquirer.net. Homosexual contact had the highest number of new cases with 408, followed by bisexual contact with 241, and heterosexual contact with 85.The remaining 16 individuals had acquired HIV via injecting drug use (IDU).

Among the youth sector, a total of 221 individuals aged 15-24 years old acquired HIV in December last year, including 219 infected through sexual contact, and two through IDU needle sharing.

Since 1984, 39,622 HIV cases have been recorded in the Philippines, including 3,665 AIDS cases, and 1,969 deaths.

Premeditated Distribution of Condoms

To address the rising number of HIV cases which causes the dreaded AIDS in the Philippines, the DOH previously announced that it has been eyeing to adopt the “business unusual” strategy. This includes distributing condoms in schools, specifically in school clinics, in order to help educate students on HIV/AIDS.

The Department of Health (DOH) will push through with its plan to distribute condoms in schools despite criticisms from different groups, including the Catholic Church.

Stunted Growth of Pinoy Kids

In the Philippine Health Agenda 2016-2022, one of the health inequities addressed by the authorities is the stunted growth of Filipino kids. So they say three out of ten children are stunted.

Even so, Vice-President Leni Robredo has called this setback a “silent epidemic” because this has afflicted Filipino children. Three million Filipino children have the condition, according to Robredo, who first saw such cases in a visit to Agutaya, a remote municipality in Palawan province, during one of her “laylayan activities.”

Robredo mentioned the condition at the forum before the most influential businessmen of the country to emphasize that it has been “a silent epidemic that will affect the entire economy if it remains unchecked as soon as possible.” It is symptomatic of chronic malnutrition.

The Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) said in a 2015 survey that one in every two children in the poorest quintiles was stunted. This means that the child’s height was below the World Health Organization (WHO) reference for his or her age.

6M Diabetic Filipinos

Diabetes or diabetes mellitus is defined as a group of metabolic diseases characterized by high blood sugar levels over a prolonged period.

At least six million Filipinos all over the country have been diagnosed to have diabetes. Dr. Augusto Litonjua, president of the Philippine Center for Diabetes Education Foundation, warned that this figure could double to 12 million or even more by 2040 because of undiagnosed diabetes cases.

Other Disease Outbreaks

Norovirus - In an April 26 issue of Inquirer.net, it was reported that the DOH advised the public, on Monday, to observe strict hygiene as it started monitoring an outbreak of norovirus, also known as the winter vomiting bug, in Zamboanga City.

Dengue Fever Cases- According to Inter-Health Worldwide, dengue is an ongoing public health concern in the Philippines. The first epidemic of dengue hemorrhagic fever ever recorded in the world occurred in Manila in 1953. By the mid-1970s, dengue fever had become a significant cause of hospitalization and death among children in the Philippines. According to the WHO, the Philippines experienced the seventh highest number of dengue fever cases in the world between 2004 and 2010.

The Philippines Department of Health-Epidemiology Bureau has reported a 41% increase in cases of dengue fever in the country from the January 2016 to June 2016 compared to the same period in 2015.

Upsurge of Waterborne Diseases - Dr. Benjamin Yson, chief of the Manila Health Department, said the “upsurge” of diseases not just of dengue, but also of leptospiroris, and influenza was, after all, “common” during the rainy season.

Chikungunya- Aside from Zika, the Philippines also fought another mosquito-borne illness called chikungunya. It was after Tayag told in a radio interview that the Provincial Health Office of Cavite has declared 400 suspected cases of chikungunya. Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. It causes fever and

severe joint pain. Other symptoms include muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash.

Humans keep an eye on their riches and wealth, considerably, because health is wealth, hence, health should then be watched over.

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