DoH denies Filipino nurse no longer positive for MERS virus

 News
Apr 182014
 

5:55 pm | Friday, April 18th, 2014

Health Secretary Enrique Ona: No risk

MANILA, Philippines–The Department of Health has denied reports that the Filipino quarantined for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) no longer tested positive for the virus.

“No official report yet,” Secretary Enrique Ona said in a text message to INQUIRER.net on Friday.

The Philippine News Agency reported that the male nurse who is suspected to be infected with the virus no longer tested positive for MERS-CoV. The report was later taken down from the agency website.

The male nurse had contact with another Filipino health worker who died of the virus in United Arab Emirates.

The nurse arrived in Manila on Wednesday. The nurse’s family members who fetched him at the airport were also quarantined.

On Twitter, Health Undersecretary Eric Tayag said that with the Filipino health workers’ case, the Philippines has become the 12th country and the first in Asia outside the Middle East with laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV.

RELATED STORY

WHO warns vs spread of MERS-Cov, urges vigilance in taking precautions

Follow Us

Recent Stories:

Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines.

Tags: disease , DOH , MERS-CoV , Middle east , Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus , OFW

Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer’s Reader’s Advocate. Or write The Readers’ Advocate:

c/o Philippine Daily Inquirer Chino Roces Avenue corner Yague and Mascardo Streets, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Or fax nos. +63 2 8974793 to 94

WHO warns vs spread of MERS-Cov, urges vigilance in taking precautions

 News
Apr 182014
 
WHO warns vs spread of MERS-Cov, urges vigilance in taking precautions

Saudi medical staff leave the emergency department at a hospital in the center of the Saudi capital Riyadh on April 8, 2014. The health ministry reported four more MERS cases in Jeddah, two of them among health workers, prompting authorities to close the emergency department at the city’s King Fahd Hospital. AFP MANILA, Philippines – With the recent death of a Filipino health worker in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) and the arrival of another infected OFW here, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged healthcare facilities and the general public to take precautions to prevent the virus from spreading further. “Health-care facilities that provide for patients suspected or confirmed to be infected with MERS-CoV should take appropriate measures to decrease the risk of transmission of the virus from an infected patient to other patients, health-care, workers and visitors,” WHO said in its advisory posted on its website Friday. “It is not always possible to identify patients with MERS-CoV early because some have mild or unusual symptoms. For this reason, it is important that health-care workers apply standard precautions consistently with all patients – regardless of their diagnosis – in all work practices all the time,” it said. An OFW who arrived in the country Wednesday from UAE was found to have tested positive for MERS-CoV and was immediately placed in quarantine along with members of his family who picked him up at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). The male health worker Read More …

SolGen defends RH Law before SC: justice calls law 'Christian and Islamic'

 News
Aug 062013
 
SolGen defends RH Law before SC: justice calls law 'Christian and Islamic'

The government, through Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, on Tuesday defended the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law or RH Law before the Supreme Court, with some justices grilling him while others seeming to give him support. Jardeleza defended the constitutionality of the controversial law during the third day of oral arguments before the 15 magistrates of the high court. “What the law seeks is to subsidize for the benefit of poor women, marginalized and vulnerable, contraceptives that have been legally available for the past 50 years to their more affluent counterparts,” said Jardeleza. Associate Justice Roberto Abad criticized Jardeleza and Congress – which passed the health bill – for consulting the World Health Organization during deliberations when the health measure was still in the legislation process. Casting doubts on the partiality of WHO, Abad said the international organization “is heavily funded by USAid and supported contraception. They want to export to us their contraception culture.” “If you want an impartial opinion on which is the best [method], would you go to Kris Aquino,” Abad asked Jardeleza. The solicitor general answered in the negative, and said experts should be consulted instead. “Yes, that’s the proper thing to do… and not [merely consult with] those whose advocacy is birth control,” Abad said. Jardeleza however noted that Congress also sought opinions from 24 experts from the United Health Care Study Group, which he described as “patriots who we should be proud of.” He added these experts were not “funded employees” of the WHO. Read More …

WHO urges gov’t to regulate sale of e-cigarettes

 News
Jul 022013
 
WHO urges gov’t to regulate sale of e-cigarettes

By Jocelyn R. UyPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:42 am | Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013 The World Health Organization on Tuesday, July 2, 2013, urged the government to regulate the sale of e-cigarettes, citing a trend in other countries where people who started using it ended up smoking the real thing. Electronic cigarettes are battery powered devices that vaporizes a nicotine laced liquid solution into an aerosol mist which simulates the act of tobacco smoking. SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES/AFP MANILA, Philippines—Beware of e-cigarettes. The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday urged the government to regulate the sale of e-cigarettes, citing a trend in other countries where people who started using it ended up smoking the real thing. Dr. Susan Mercado, director for Building Healthy Communities and Populations of the WHO-Western Pacific office, said there was no proof that the use of electronic cigarettes was safe and that it could help people kick the habit of smoking. “In 2010, the WHO organized a global panel of experts to review the evidence and there is no evidence to show that it can help you quit smoking,” Mercado said at a press conference following the Red Orchid Awards ceremonies at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. The Red Orchid Awards is a recognition given by the Department of Health (DOH) to government offices, state hospitals and local government units that have been consistent in promoting a “100-percent tobacco-free” environment. At the event, the WHO also awarded a medal of honor to President Aquino, Sen. Read More …

WHO calls for total ad ban as globe marks World No Tobacco Day Friday

 News
May 302013
 
WHO calls for total ad ban as globe marks World No Tobacco Day Friday

By Philip C. TubezaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:10 am | Friday, May 31st, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday called for a comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship as it marks World No Tobacco Day Friday. The WHO said the ban should include point-of-sale (POS) advertising or store sales promotions, the last refuge of advertisers still allowed in most countries where all other kinds of tobacco advertising have been banned. It said that children were exposed to POS advertising, since cigarettes were often sold near racks of candy and other items aimed at children. “As called for in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, governments must comprehensively ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship,” said Shin Young-soo, WHO Western Pacific regional director. Aggressive “We must halt the tobacco industry’s aggressive marketing of its products, which cause addiction, suffering and millions of deaths each year,” he said. The WHO noted that after Hong Kong banned tobacco advertising in broadcast media, billboards and print media, it was found that brand recognition remained high at 30 percent to 64 percent among children whose families were nonsmoking because POS advertising and sponsorship were not controlled. To subvert marketing bans, the tobacco industry has shifted to forms of indirect advertising, such as sponsorship of sports or cultural events and viral marketing, including word-of-mouth, the WHO said. Leading cause The global organization warned that tobacco use was a leading cause of preventable death, killing nearly six million people every year around Read More …