San Pascual Mayor Antonio Dimayuga issued an EO after 8 barangays were affected by the HFMD. Also, DOH Regional Office is conducting an investigation to find the source of the outbreak.
Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said that an outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is affecting over 100 children in San Pascual, Batangas. She asked help from the health authorities to prevent massive disruption of classes in the area.
HFMD is a viral and infectious disease common among children. Its symptoms include fever, painful sores in the mouth, rash, and blisters in hands, feet, and buttocks. More severe symptoms such as meningitis, encephalitis, and polio-like paralysis may likewise occur, Business Mirror reported.
“This outbreak of HFMD is very alarming because young people are just starting to have face-to-face classes in school,” she said.
San Pascual, Batangas Mayor Antonio Dimayuga issued an executive order (EO) declaring the suspension of classes from October 18 to December 21, 2022, for daycare and grade 3 students. The EO will be applied in 8 barangays that were severely affected by the outbreak.
“We call on Department of Health (DOH) OIC Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire to pay attention to this outbreak. We hope the health department would find the source of the outbreak and help in immediately stopping it,” Luistro added.
She pointed out that the executive order will help prevent this outbreak from spreading to other towns and classes will not be again disrupted since HFMD quickly spread in San Pascual and over 100 kids are affected in just a few days.
Meanwhile, the DOH Center for Health Development CALABARZON launched an epidemiological investigation to find the source of the HFMD outbreak in San Pascual, Batangas.
The DOH Regional Office recorded 105 cases from September 26 and October 16, 2022, however only 49 of those cases met the criteria for suspect HFMD. Validation still has to be done on the remaining cases.
Most of the cases are children 1 to 16 years old and are predominantly male.
Patients mostly pupils from various schools within the community and residents of 11 different barangays, that include: Barangays Pook ng Kapitan, Sambat, Natunuan North, Poblacion, Pook ni Banal, San Antonio, Resplandor, Antipolo, Mataas na Lupa, Palsahingin and Alalum.
Tags: #DOH, #Batangas, #HFMDoutbreak