'98.37% increase': DOH watches out for tetanus as New Year injuries reach 609

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health is waiting for the possible development of life-threatening tetanus from recent fireworks-related injuries — a number which almost doubled compared to 2022 data.

The DOH shared the news during the release of their final FWRI surveillance report on Saturday.

"Our monitoring for tetanus cases shall continue until Jan 25, as the maximum incubation period is 21 days, with an average of 14 days," said the DOH.

"There are now six hundred nine (609) injuries overall, with 601 due to fireworks, 1 due to Watusi ingestion, and 7 [stray bullet injuries]."

There's no cure for tetanus, an acute infectious disease disease caused by spores of the bacterium Clostridium tetani.

Symptoms include inability to open the mouth, seizures and sudden painful muscle spasms triggered by sudden noises, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that tetanus has been fatal in over 11% of infections, mostly occurring in persons aged 60 years old or older and unvaccinated persons.

Included in the final number of FWRIs for this year are the following:

• due to fireworks: 601
• due to watusi ingestion: 1
• due to stray bullet injuries: 7
• blasts/burns with amputation: 33
• blasts/burns with no amputation: 447
• eye injuries: 155
• blindness: 1
• hearing loss: 2

The top ranking identified fireworks that cased majority of injuries this year are Kwitis, 5-star, Pla-pla, Luces, Whistle Bomb, Boga and Fountain. Legal fireworks are to blame for over 63% of FWRIs.

Nine new injuries were likewise recorded from Friday to 5:59 a.m. as of Saturday, with the fresh cases ranging from eight to 55 years old. Four individuals were also rushed to hospitals due to their injuries.

"Today marks the end of FWRI surveillance for SY 2023. There are still reported cases of stray bullet injuries (SBIs) being validated, hence the number may change in next few days. The DOH is continuously validating with the PNP to arrrive at the confirmed counts," the DOH said.

Increase linked to 'post-pandemic freedom'

Compared to the total number FWRI cases this year, New Year 2022 only had 307 injuries. This means a 98.3713% increase in injuries in anticipation of 2024.

Last year, only 23 injuries were reported during the Christmas peak while only 235 were observed during the New Year peak.

"As the DOH prepares for more detailed analyses of the trend in FWRI for surveillance year (SY) 2023, we see this Yuletide season as the first one without any pandemic restrictions at all," the health department said.

"It could be because of this renewed freedom to gather and celebrate that more people chose to use fireworks more. But this remains to be a hypothesis that must be subjected to further study."