Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday, August 22, called on schools to implement mechanisms that would shield students from mpox.
Gatchalian made the call following the detection of the first mpox (formerly monkeypox) case in the Philippines this year.
The case reported on August 18 to the Department of Health (DOH) is the tenth laboratory-confirmed mpox in the country since last year.
The DOH revealed that the case involves a 33-year-old male Filipino national with no travel history outside the Philippines.
While the risk of children and adolescents getting mpox is low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Gatchalian said schools should still help spread awareness and actively promote safety measures.
This includes reminders to observe regular handwashing and the disinfection of classrooms and other spaces.
“Patuloy nating dapat isulong ang mga hakbang upang mapanatili ang kalinisan at kaligtasan sa ating mga paaralan at sa buong bansa, lalo na’t ang unang kaso ng mpox ngayong taon ay napatunayang hindi lumabas ng bansa, at nangangahulugang nandito lang ang virus (Let’s continue to pursue safety measures to maintain cleanliness of our schools nationwide, especially now that the first mpox case this year had no travel history, which proves that the virus is just rotating here),” Gatchalian said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier declared the mpox outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. However, the DOH emphasized that all previous cases in the Philippines were isolated, cared for, and have since recovered.