5 patients MERS-free

CEBU, Philippines - Central Visayas region remains free from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus after five people being monitored tested negative for the disease.

Department of Health-7 Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of chief Rennan Cimafranca yesterday said the five people closely monitored by health authorities were declared free from MERS-CoV.

“Discharge of patients is already being processed,” Cimafranca said, adding that the results arrived yesterday noon.

The patients; four adults and one minor were on the same Etihad Airlines flight that arrived April 15 from Saudi Arabia to Manila as the Filipina nurse.

Two of them are from Bohol while three are from Cebu.

Cimafranca emphasized that while health authorities are aggressively addressing the deadly viral disease, all five did not display symptoms of the disease.

MERS-CoV symptoms include flu-like manifestations like fever, chills, rhinorrhea, fatigue, and myalgia. Respiratory symptoms include shortness of breath and dyspnea, while the gastrointestinal ones include anorexia, nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Severe cases lead to renal failure and even multiple organ failure.

Testing was done at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. Cimafranca stressed that testing and admission are for free as DOH is shouldering the expenses.

The Filipino passengers were identified and located by DOH central office based on the flight manifest obtained from the airline.

The central office contacted the passengers first. After identifying the location, they reached the regional offices to pick the passengers up to be tested in DOH referral hospitals like VSMMC and the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.

Those admitted to VSMMC were placed inside a negative-pressure room under round-the-clock monitoring while the one in Bohol was placed in a private room.

Last April, health authorities were placed under heightened alert after another overseas Filipino worker from United Arab Emirates initially tested positive for MERS-CoV.

Consequently, DOH searched for those who were in the same flight and 26 were traced to be from Central Visayas.  —/BRP (FREEMAN)