UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo Though, not unexpected, when DOH announced the detection of the first case of Monkeypox infection in the Philippines, it still came as a nasty piece of news on top of ever-increasing bad news. The announcement came with some reassurances on how it is different...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo The buzz nowadays is there are 27 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines set to expire this month. Most were bought by private companies, which are now fretting about the losses that the expiration will incur. The question is why are these vaccines being allowed...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo The practice of modern medicine is very much truth-based in terms of the science behind it. Medical literature gives us an abundance of information, which we use to treat patients. The science is robust and evidence-based. Besides being peer-reviewed and...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo Rabies is a zoonotic disease, just like Covid-19. But it kills 100 percent of its victims, compared to less than two percent for Covid-19. Worldwide, rabies kills 60,000 people annually. WHO says it is probably underestimated. In the Philippines, between 200...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo It was my usual Sunday morning being spent at home in the garden when my gardener came to me and tearfully said he has to go home because his younger sister committed suicide. We were in shock. She was only 20 years old. But her story isn’t isolated. I...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo Amid the rising number of Covid cases, people are starting to feel anxious again, if not panicking outright. Sure, there’s a definite upward trend, but we’re still not seeing the number of hospitalizations and ICU occupancy that we saw in the initial and...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo Dramatic as the Covid-19 pandemic is, we should remember that its death toll is dwarfed by that of HIV/AIDS, which has so far killed 36.3 million people since it started in 1980. Yet, we seem to have forgotten about this dreaded disease. It is still very much...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo Still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic, we are now faced with another viral zoonotic (animal-transmitted) disease that threatens our health. Monkeypox virus is a member of the Poxviridae family, which includes smallpox. Before you panic, here’s a...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo The dust has cleared. The people have spoken. We will have a new president whose father preceded him 36 years ago. What is going to be interesting is how this new government will fare, considering the numerous challenges facing the Philippines. Can it cope...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo The last few days were anxiety-filled as the campaign season drew to a close. Everyone I spoke to had sleepless nights and so did I. Our fears were well-founded. The future is at stake. But we have done everything we could: organized Viber groups, raised...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo Now that the election campaign is in its homestretch, we have seen the clearly defined and stark differences between the two leading candidates. One is running on the basis of his father’s supposed achievements while just sitting back and not enunciating his...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Dr. Raymund W. Lo At the massive grand rally held in Pasay City for Vice President Leni Robredo’s birthday, which not incidentally is the biggest political gathering in Philippine history, the birthday celebrant was feted with all sorts of gifts: flowers, paintings, songs,...
