Dr. Kristy June Dayanan, Davao City Health Office program manager and head of the Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases unit. (PNA photo by Che Palicte)
DAVAO CITY – Preemptive measures are being undertaken in case of the possible entry of the monkeypox disease here, the City Health Office (CHO) said Friday.
Dr. Kristy June Dayanan, CHO program manager and head of the Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases (EREID) unit, said they have partnered with the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in establishing the isolation facilities for monkeypox cases.
“Our sole referral hospital is SPMC, and they have confirmed one isolation facility for severe cases of monkeypox,” Dayanan said in a press briefing.
Dayanan said the EREID, being responsible for emergency response planning for infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and monkeypox, has already formed a group of healthcare responders in the event of monkeypox infections in the city.
Isolation areas for the immunocompromised who are most vulnerable to infection, such as patients undergoing dialysis and pregnant women, will be put up in the event of an outbreak of the disease.
"The setting up of intensive care unit beds and Obstetrics and Gynecology isolation facility are also part of the contingency plan," she added.
The plan also includes the CHO’s Health Emergency Medical Management System (HEMMS), and medical teams that will be deployed to various isolation facilities.
She said the responders will come from members of the health sector who also handle Covid-19 cases.
However, Dayanan said the possibility of the disease entering the city remains slim, as stringent monitoring and surveillance are in place at the city’s entry points.
WHO declared monkeypox on July 23 as a “public health emergency of international concern.”
On July 29, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed the first case of monkeypox in the country. It involved a 31-year-old Filipino who returned to the country from an overseas trip on July 19. (PNA)
