Malaria outbreak reported in southern Philippines
Philippines, Apr 30, 2010
The Philippine's southern province of Mindanao is fighting a malaria outbreak in North Cotabato that has already affected at least 43 people since January 2010, the Inquirer.net reported on Saturday (April 24). A report released by the Integrated Provincial Health Office on April 21 said that cases of malaria had been recorded in the towns of Tulunan, President Roxas, Carmen, Banisilan and in Kabacan. According to Rogelio Gante, head of the village of Bacung, the elderly and children were most affected by the mosquito-borne disease. Gante also noted that patients have since recovered. The town of Tulunan reported the most cases, with 30 people infected with the disease. Due to the outbreak, officials have adopted measures to combat the diseases' spread, such as distributing mosquito nets to the affected villages. Medical officer of the Father Tulio Favali Hospital, Dr. Sherlito Pineda, told the Inquirer.net that the health office had already oriented local health workers on conduct of residual spraying to eliminate mosquitoes. Even with spraying and mosquito nets, Gante expressed that more measures need to be conducted in order to minimize, or totally control, malaria, along with the much needed cooperation of the villagers. Village officials have been actively campaigning and urging villagers to maintain good hygiene in their surroundings and their respective homes, the Inquirer.net reported Gante as saying. According to proMed mail, malaria is endemic in Mindanao, and the parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, accounts for 70 percent of all malaria cases in the Philippines, while Plasmodium vivax accounted for the remaining 30 percent.
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