CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Department of Health-Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) confirmed on Wednesday, September 27, that over 190 students from private schools in this city experienced flu-like symptoms this month.
PARENTS waiting for their children witness an event at West City Central School in Barangay Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City, on August 31, 2023. (Franck Dick Rosete)
Dr. Stephanie Grace Zamora, medical officer of the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance and Disaster Response Unit (RESDRU)-10, said in a press conference that the figure is based on the report submitted by private school clinics to DOH-10 on the number of consultations they conducted.
Ten cases were reported on September 11, followed by 19 on September 12, 32 on September 19, 40 on September 20, 49 on September 21, and 42 on September 22.
DOH-10 acting Director Dr. Ellenietta Gamolo said the reported cases were only from private schools but they are closely coordinating with the Cagayan de Oro City Health Office which conducted an investigation into other schools as this became a hot topic here and social media because of the recent Nipah virus (NiV) detected in India.
Three private schools have released advisories temporarily reverting their face-to-face classes for basic education, junior high, and senior high school to online classes amid the number of students experiencing flu-like symptoms.
Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan reverted their classes to online from September 27 to October 3, Corpus Christi School, September 27 to 29, Lourdes College for basic education and junior high school from September 27 to 29 and senior high and college from September 29 to 30.
A Facebook user posted an advisory from the Liceo de Cagayan University about online classes but this was not posted in the school’s official Facebook page.
City Health Officer Dr. Rachel Dilla has deployed personnel to monitor these cases but the CHO has yet to release their findings as of posting time.
“Nevertheless, the CHO has already conducted surveillance to ensure that our city is safe. However, we are appealing to the schools to report to us cases of headaches and other flu-like symptoms,” Dilla said.
The DOH-10 released a statement on Tuesday, September 26, affirming the agency’s stand that there are no NiV cases in the country.
The DOH acknowledged cases of influenza-like symptoms among students but they said “it is not conclusive to declare such a virus as the causative agent.”
“We do encourage preventive measures to ensure no further similar infections are spread, such as hand washing, proper wearing of masks, and other minimum public health standard measures,” the DOH-10 said.
From January 1, 2023 to last week, 18,364 influenza-like illnesses (ILI) were recorded by the DOH-10 in Northern Mindanao, 41.31 percent higher than the 12,996 cases in the same period last year.
Bukidnon has the highest number of ILIs with 8,002 cases, followed by Misamis Oriental (3,000), Iligan City (2,691), Misamis Occidental (2,621), Lanao del Norte (1,338), this city (602), and Camiguin (110).
The NiV, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), was first recognized in 1999 in Malaysia and has affected Singapore. It was also recognized in Bangladesh in 2001.
But WHO also said that “other regions may be at risk for infection, as evidence of the virus has been found in the known natural reservoir (Pteropus bat species) and several other bat species in a number of countries, including Cambodia, Ghana, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Philippines, and Thailand.”
The zoonotic virus can be transmitted from animals to humans, as well as through contaminated food or directly between people. It can cause a variety of illnesses in infected humans, including asymptomatic infection, acute respiratory sickness, and fatal encephalitis.
The first Nipah virus case in the country was detected in Sultan Kudarat in 2014.
Just in case NiV enters the country, Gamolo said the government can learn from other countries how to contain it, as there were already previous cases recorded, unlike with Covid-19 where everything was new.