QC school declared safe from ‘meningo’

The Department of Health (DOH) has declared New Era University in Quezon City safe from meningococcemia even as it awaits test results to determine the cause of death of one of its students.

"The school has resumed classes and the students are safe from possible infection," Dr. Eric Tayag, DOH’s chief epidemiologist, said in an interview.

The death of a 10-year-old student reportedly caused panic among his schoolmates, parents and teachers, prompting the suspension of classes in the elementary and high school levels of the university the other day.

The DOH had declared it as a "suspected" case of meningococcemia as the boy manifested symptoms of the illness before his death.

Tayag pointed out that even if meningococcemia is confirmed as the real cause of death, the other students are still safe because the illness cannot be easily transmitted.

Tayag said results of laboratory test are not expected to come out until next week.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said there was no cause for alarm.

"We will not press the panic button. Based on the professional opinion of the DOH, there is nothing to worry about," Lapus said.

He explained that the school has already been "cleaned." School authorities said it was safe to go back to school.

The DepEd chief also said the DOH has given the family, household members and those in contact of the boy medication to prevent them from being infected with neisseria meningitides, the bacteria that causes meningococcemia.

"They are also under observation by the DOH. There is no need to conduct a sweeping clean-up of all Quezon City schools," Lapus said.

He ordered education officials to strengthen the implementation of the Preventive Alert System in Schools to prevent a possible outbreak of meningococcemia and other diseases in schools.

Lapus noted that DepEd has established measures for the awareness and prevention of diseases in the schools.

"We want to ensure that our students are well-informed about meningococcemia and how to respond to it accordingly," he said.

Lapus also instructed the department’s NCR office and Quezon City division office to strictly monitor the latest case in coordination with the DOH.