DOH: SARS watch in Baguio

BAGUIO CITY — Worries about a possible outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in this city have intensified after health officials officially listed a female Indian missionary as a suspected SARS case.

Officials said they have also isolated four persons, including two foreigners, who have had contact with the 21-year-old Indian.

Dr. Cecilia Brillantes, head of the Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the Baguio Health Department, reported the four have been quarantined at their respective homes.

She emphasized that although the four have not yet manifested symptoms of SARS, it is too early to declare them SARS-free.

The Department of Health (DOH) in Manila confirmed that the Indian is being monitored for SARS.

Brillantes said they are now tracing the whereabouts of the 30 bus passengers who traveled with the Indian from Manila during the five-hour trip last Saturday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Brillantes said they have yet to establish the identities of all the passengers.

She said they are waiting for the approval of city Mayor Bernardo Vergara to publicly announce the details.

The Indian was immediately confined at the Baguio General Hospital contagious disease pavilion after health officials here declared she is a potential SARS victim.

Dr. Julius Alcala, head of the Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the DOH-Cordillera Autonomous Region, on Monday confirmed the Indian missionary had a cough and fever and was being watched for SARS.

The Indian had submitted herself for voluntary quarantine at the hospital. An x-ray showed she was negative for pneumonia but Brillantes said the Indian’s condition could deteriorate. Brillantes did not elaborate.

Health officials said the Indian missionary stayed in Bangkok from March 11 to April 25, and arrived in Manila on Saturday, April 26.

Officials learned that the Indian also did missionary work in Cambodia, Thailand and her home country.

In Ilagan, Isabela, the provincial government placed an entire barangay under quarantine after one of its residents was suspected to have contracted SARS.

Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy Jr. said a composite team of local health and police officials have placed Barangay Casibarag Norte of Cabagan town under quarantine.

Dy said a 42-year-old resident of the village, identified only by initials "RC," manifested the symptoms of the viral infection after arriving from the Middle East via Hong Kong last April 20.

RC is now under isolation at the Cagayan Valley Medical Center in Tuguegarao City, Dy said.

Dy said the provincial health office has also recommended that three relatives who accompanied RC be placed under quarantine.

The DOH regional office in Tuguegarao City confirmed RC is still under strict medical observation.

Regional DOH information officer Floro Urata, however, said they could not officially ascertain RC’s condition.

RC, who worked as a driver in the Middle East, arrived last April 20 after a brief stopover in Hong Kong where his wife is working as a domestic helper.

Two days after arriving home, RC was brought to a hospital with high fever and sore throat. Health officials recommended RC should undergo further medical observation.

This prompted the provincial government to put more than 200 residents of Barangay Casibarag under quarantine, Dy said.

Back in Manila, Dr. Agnes Venegas, an epidemiologist from the DOH-National Epidemiology Center, dropped RC from the list of possible SARS victims.

Venegas claimed the doctors later found out that RC was only suffering from tonsillitis. "Some people (initially) thought he had SARS," she said.

Venegas said three more people have been rushed to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang and San Lazaro Hospital (SLH) in Manila for manifesting SARS symptoms.

Venegas said two were brought to the RITM and one to the SLH.

She said the DOH has also quarantined 12 people suspected of having SARS in various hospitals nationwide.

Venegas said they are verifying reports of SARS cases in Ozamis City, Iligan and the one reported in Baguio.

Because of the SARS scare, Venegas said they are getting an average of 100 telephone calls a day. "And of these, 80 percent turned out to be false alarms. From this we can see how the people are responding."

RP still SARS-free

Despite the three reported cases of SARS in the country, the Philippines remains free of SARS, Venegas said.

"By the definition of the (United States Center for Disease Control), technically, we are still free of SARS because our local transmission has occurred only within the household," she said.

Last week, the DOH admitted there were four SARS cases in the country, including a German national who eventually recovered from the disease, Canada-based nursing assistant Adela Catalon who infected her father Mauricio and a Hong Kong domestic helper from Eastern Samar identified only as JP.

JP was eventually taken off the SARS list last Tuesday after finding out that she only had the flu.

Venegas said that while Mauricio was the country’s first case of local SARS transmission, he contracted the disease from his daughter in their home.

"We were able to control SARS. It did not spread in the community and by definition of the CDC, the disease should be transmitted in the community before a country could be considered no longer free of SARS ," Venegas said.

The CDC standard differs from the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) which includes a country on the SARS list the moment a local transmission is confirmed to have taken place.

This means a local must be infected by an imported case or a SARS carrier who contracted the disease from another country.

As of April 29, the Philippines was not included in the WHO’s SARS list regularly posted in its website.

In a related development, health workers in government hospitals lamented they could end up as SARS victims if they are left poorly equipped and protected.

Emma Manuel, president of Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), claimed the P1.5 billion fund allocated by President Arroyo for the anti-SARS effort should be immediately released to buy much-needed supplies for government hospitals.

Sen. Loren Legarda, for her part, also urged the government to immediately purchase thermal scanners to be installed in airports and seaports throughout the country. — With Sheila Crisostomo, Rainier Allan Ronda, Charlie Lagasca