Dengue claims one more; fatalities now 10

CEBU, Philippines - The dreaded dengue virus has claimed one more victim in Cebu City bringing the total number of fatalities to 10 this year.

Assistant epidemiologist Dorinda Macasucol of the Department of Health, however, said they have yet the details of the latest fatality from a private hospital. Macasucol said they received the information about it from the hospital management yesterday.

Mayor Michael Rama also instructed yesterday the officials of Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) to find a way that patients at the pediatric ward will no longer share the same bed.

This after the hospital did not help but again implement twin sharing due to the surge of child patients either because of dengue or other diseases like pneumonia.

CCMC chief of hospital Myrna Go admitted that there are many patients admitted than usual in the past few days.

“Normally, gamay ra man na sila. Nidaghan lang gyud karon. We will find a way nga magtagsa na sila og bed,” Go said.

Rama said that they can use for the meantime the hospital auditorium located at the same floor as an extension. Go said they can also use the adjacent ward and later the Gyne ward that is soon transferring to the ground floor where the pedia ward used to be.

The pedia ward has existing 37 beds maximized to accommodate 77 patients as of today.

Of the 77 patients, 22 of them were afflicted with the dangerous dengue disease.

Go said that there is no death recently due to dengue and was glad that there were critical cases the other day saved by the doctors due to constant monitoring of the patients’ conditions.

Marivic Warque, a mother of an eight-year-old boy admitted due to dengue said that they are satisfied by the hospital services because doctors constantly check the patients.

There was never an instance also that the hospital refused to accommodate a patient.

The city offers free medication for dengue-stricken patients as per order of then Mayor Tomas Osmeña. CCMC is receiving an additional P5 million assistance for the medical expenses of patients from the laboratory tests to their confinement.

Go said that the order is still existing and they are implementing the free medication program but said that in cases when the hospital lacks the medicine needed, the patients still need to buy it outside.

“Fluid ra man ning among i-provide but if naa’y kinahanglan nga tambal pareha sa patients nga naa’y complications, they have to buy it. Hapit na gani mahurot among supply pero naa na sad mi muabot,” she said.

Rama said that proposal for expansion to accommodate more city residents at the hospital is still being studied but as of the moment, he assured that they will address the immediate concerns.

CCMC is currently being renovated and repainted to give patients a comfortable feeling when they enter and stay at the hospital.

Among the changes at the hospital since Rama took over as mayor is the transfer of the pedia ward to the third floor because Rama did not like the idea that the pedia ward used to be at the ground floor beside the morgue. (FREEMAN)