The Department of Health (DoH) confirmed on Thursday that the death of a 10-year-old elementary student in Manila was due to diphtheria.
“Yung 10-year-old patient from Manila, the results came in today and positive ‘yung result. [The] case was really a case of diphtheria,” said Health Undersecretary Rolando Enrique Domingo in a press briefing.
The child was reportedly a student of Jacinto Zamora Elementary School in Pandacan, Manila, and passed away last September 20.
Domingo said that the DoH-National Capital Region already disinfected the school’s premises while antibiotics were given to those people who had come in close physical contact with the child.
“Yung regional office natin nagpunta na agad at nag-respond na doon sa site. Naglinis na doon sa lugar and also they traced all of the contacts — mga family members and mga neighbors na malalapit, at nag distribute na rin ng antibiotics, prophylactic,” assured Domingo.
Domingo noted that they have not detected any new diphtheria cases in the area.
“Wala naman transmission, wala naman bagong case after,” he said.
The health official allayed fears that the case could be a cause of concern.
“Hindi naman. Although diphtheria is very unusual, we do get diphtheria cases in the Philippines. Every year nagkakaroon n’yan, siguro mga 160 to 200 cases every year,” said Domingo.
“It is a very unusual disease. Ang importante lang pag nakakita kasi tayo, kailangan ma-stop ‘yung spread kaya nagre-respond tayo nang ganito, naglilinis saka nagbibigay ng antibiotics,” he added.
The World Health Organization defined diphtheria as “an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheria, which primarily infects the throat and upper airways, and produces a toxin affecting other organs.”
Domingo said that diphtheria can be transmitted through droplets from sneezing and coughing. It can be treated by antibiotics while vaccination is the best way to prevent it.
The health department noted that from January 1 to September 7, there were 167 diphtheria cases nationwide, including 40 deaths. The figure is higher than the 122 cases, including 30 deaths recorded during the same period last year. (Analou de Vera)
