DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The City Health Office (CHO) of Mati City intensifies its information and awareness campaign on Hand, Foot, and Mouth Diseases (HFMD) as it awaits the result of specimens sent to Metro Manila from 59 suspected cases.
As of March 9, Mati City recorded five confirmed cases: a boy, 4, from Tamisan village; a girl, 4, from Central village; a boy, 8, from Taguibo village; a girl, 1, from Matiao village; and an eleven-month-old boy from Mamali village.
“Naa tay information and awareness campaign citywide on what symptoms to look out for and how to prevent the spread of the virus among children. Alerted na pud tanan barangay health stations nato ug ang atong barangay isolation units to cater to infected children. Para dali sila ma-isolate either sa atong BIU or didto sa.ilang mga panimalay,” said Ben Tesiorna, Mati City Information Officer.
(We have a city-wide information and awareness campaign on what symptoms to look out for and how to prevent the spread of the virus among children. Our barangay health stations have also been alerted as well as the barangay isolation units to cater to infected children. So it will be easy to isolate them either in our Barangay Isolation Unit or in their homes.)
The campaign, Tesiorna added, aims to inform the public on how to prevent the spread of HFMD as it targets mostly children, especially in schools and other crowded places.
The local health officials have earlier advised the public to follow proper hygiene protocols to avoid the spread of the infection by frequent handwashing.
In February, the Department of Health-Davao Region said HFMD cases are increasing with a total number of 888 cases. Davao de Oro recorded the highest cases with 247, followed by Davao del Norte with 217, Davao City with 204, Davao Occidental with 154, Davao Oriental with 54, and Davao del Sur with 12. (davaotoday.com)