Cleaning and disinfection services were conducted by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) - Batangas Chapter to prevent the further spread of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) in the province.
Its volunteers held sanitation activities in Sambat Elementary School, Sambat Day Care Center, and Sambat Health Center in the municipality of San Pascual, Batangas.
Boxes of hand sanitizers were also turned over to the visited locations, PRC said.
On Oct. 19, Department of Health – (DOH) Calabarzon Regional Director Ariel Valencia stated that they have already started with the HFMD "active case-finding" in the area.
Specimens were also sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Metro Manila to "determine the causative agent."
A total of 105 persons with clinical symptoms of HFMD were recorded from Sept. 26 to Oct. 16 but "only 49 cases fit the suspect HFMD case definition," DOH-Calabarzon reported.
Batangas 2nd District Rep. Jinky Luistro, on the following day, urged the Department of Education to temporarily suspend the classes in the whole province while waiting for the result of the specimen.
Luistro also called for the declaration of an HFMD outbreak in Batangas but the provincial health officials said that the decision shall come from the local government unit.