DOH monitoring another mystery killer disease

Amid the scare of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), health authorities are now monitoring another deadly disease — meningo coccemia — which claimed the lives of three children last week in Manila.

Sources told The STAR that the children, all from Blumentritt in Sta. Cruz, died shortly after they fell ill. The bodies were ordered buried immediately by Manila City Hall’s sanitation division for fear that the disease might infect other children.

According to Dr. Eric Tayag from the Department of Health (DOH), the new killer airborne disease, meningo coccemia, is caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningities, which infects the person’s blood and causes multiple organ failure.

"It’s highly fatal and affects only children, whose resistance to diseases is not that strong compared to adults," Tayag said in a phone interview.

"The person with meningo coccemia could die very fast, only hours after developing the disease," he confirmed.

Its symptoms include high-grade fever, which could be construed as dengue fever, rashes and big welts.

Meanwhile, to prevent the possible spread of SARS in the country, the departments of foreign affairs, labor and health yesterday recommended voluntary domestic quarantine for Filipinos returning from SARS-infected countries including the congressmen and reporters who will be arriving in Manila next week from a trade exhibit in Shanghai, China.

Ople said that they have to stay for seven days in their homes and should immediately consult a doctor if they suffer from fever or other symptoms of SARS.

President Arroyo, however, reiterated her assurance on television that there is nothing to fear that the deadly SARS virus may spread in the country as contingency measures were properly laid out by the Department of Health (DOH).

Interviewed live at Malacañang by GMA-7 news program "Front Page," she urged everybody to stay calm and avoid irrational fear.

Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit affirmed this, saying the Philippines remains a SARS-free country despite suspected SARS cases being monitored in government hospitals.

He explained that the SARS virus can be passed on by an infected person through droplet infection (through coughing or saliva) within three feet distance from him. He advised people, then, to maintain a safe three feet distance from suspected SARS afflicted persons.

The health chief also called on Filipinos to avoid or postpone travel to SARS-afflicted countries as much as possible.

Meanwhile, the remains of Filipino domestic helper, Adela Dalingay, who died of SARS in Hong Kong, is set to be cremated tomorrow.

Philippine officials recommended the cremation of Dalingay’s remains as health authorities in Hong Kong refused to embalm the body for fears of possible contamination.

There were also reports that several airline companies have refused to transport the body of Dalingay.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Adela’s parents, Gregorio Dalingay and Lolita Managan, who belong to the Tingian tribal group in Abra, had already consented to the cremation and are leaving tomorrow for Hong Kong.

They expressed, though, that they would prefer to bring home Adela’s body for proper burial if autopsy reports show that she did not die from SARS. — With Mayen Jaymalin, Marichu Villanueva, Jose Rodel Clapano, Rainier Allan Ronda