The media is still abuzz with A (H1N1) news, especially when it recently reported the first Filipino mortality PROBABLY due to it.  Metro Manila has been declared to have a LOW-LEVEL community outbreak.  Many more, even politicians, are becoming more concerned with how the virus rapidly spreads and how the DOH responds to this health problem, even criticizing the department for downplaying the calibre of this virus; thus creating confusion among people.  Should they be alarmed or should they be complacent?  But I believe the middle ground should be the case.  People should be concerned of it and actively take charge of their health to avoid getting it.  Thus, boosting one’s immune system and personal hygiene are king in these times of flu.  Let’s start singing “Happy birthday!”  and repeat as we wash our hands.

At this point, there is no telling when H1N1 would cease to be in the limelight.

And so the WHO already sounded the A (H1N1) pandemic alarm bell after transmissions of the disease had proven to be more widespread and more people are being infected.  This creates further alarm and panic among people all over the world.    After 40 years, another influenza pandemic is again in the midst of mankind.  This challenges the preparedness and readiness of the world to deal with a new virus whose characteristics up to now remain to be elucidated.  We know how rapidly it can be transmitted; but how virulent the virus is is the more important thing to consider. 

What the public needs now is proper information on prevention and control measures to be safe.  We should all get our acts together to contain and control this pandemic lest it threaten our economy and worse our existence.

The DOH has just announced the second case of H1N1 influenza virus infection in the country, in the person of a 50-something woman who flew in from US sometime last week.  Though apparently she had already recovered, the threat of an epidemic in the country is still imminent.  We still have to await the developments related to this mysterious flu virus.  Is this the flu that had been lurking in the corner, through the years, waiting to create menace among humankind.  Reviewing the history of deadly flus in the past, we can conclude that deadly diseases wipe out mankind more effectively than wars do.

The battle against killer diseases starts now…

The WHO has raised the swine flu alert level to phase 5, in which cases have already been established to geographically cross from one country to another, from Mexico to the US that is.  One level short of causing a pandemic, this new strain of virus is already an imminent threat to humanity.  Travel restrictions have become stricter; but eating pork is still safe.  After bird flu and swine flu, what type of animal flu next?  In this age of information and innovation, viruses still work in ways that make humans look dumb.

Attended a 2-day postgrad course on infectious diseases and tropical medicine at RITM.  All topics are relevant to me.  We learned more about common infectious diseases, enlightened about new emerging diseases (some actually old already), and updated on challenges facing us today, particularly drug resistance.  Bugs are becoming more resistant than ever to our arsenal of anitbiotics and vectors especially mosquitoes are becoming more efficient carriers of diseases. 

Nature is coming back at us humans.  No matter how forward-thinking we are, these biological agents always have ways of emerging as winners.  The battle is on!  We must wage a battle in the research front and upgrade our current capabilities as healthcare providers.

Attended a lavish drug launching last night and witnessed Pinoy rockstar sensation Ariel Pineda of The Journey perform (I wonder how much money he was paid).  His voice was shattering, the frequency and power of which awakened the NBC tent from the inside to the outside.  His vocal cords would have complained if they could when he belted out classic love songs, especially the most-requested “Open Arms”.  We really had a blast watching him.

Meanwhile, the journey towards quality affordable drugs continues…

One of my favorite bookmarked sites now is TED with the tagline: ideas worth spreading (I really love this phrase).  It features talks by persons from all fields of human endeavor who are shaping the world now.  The TED conference 2009 had Bill Gates (as one of the first speakers) sharing about malaria and education.  A departure from his traditional computer and microsoft-speak.

The part on malaria, especially the opening question, “how do you stop a deadly disease that’s spread by mosquitoes?” is very catchy.  He then details the disease burden, the drugs being developed, especially the malaria vaccine, and goes on to show the world that the battle is on with his active philantropy for the disease.  The verve and enthusiasm are very palpable that even non-medical people will want to have a part on his battle. Well, as for our country, the fight continues with this deadly disease.  The basics of its transmission have to be disseminated to every Filipino and measures be taken to reduce its incidence.  Easy to say but hard to implement.  A lot of public health work remains to be done still.

Lately been busy with school work–exams, presentations, reports and all.  In our chit-chat (with classmates) over lunch, we learned that there is already a case of Ebola virus transmission to a human from pigs, a pig farm worker in Bulacan.  The person is believed to have caught the virus 6 months ago and he tested positive for Ebola-Reston type antibodies.  The Reston type has been known to infect humans though it doesn’t cause any symptoms like the other species (especially Zaire) that cause a fatal hemorrhagic fever.

This is the first time the virus is coming from a pig.  Ebola was first identified with monkeys.  Health secretary Duque already suppressed a possible alarm on this latest development saying it poses negligible health risk since the person that was infected didn’t have any symptom.  But from the extra knowledge we gained from our public health subjects, we know that this is worrisome.  This means that the virus might already have developed the means to be transmitted easily to humans, and who knows, this might signal cases of human-to-human transmission.

What’s more worrisome is the fact that we Filipinos love to eat pork so much.  I wonder if prices of pork will decrease drastically because of this.  Public Health people unite!  Let’s try to bring down prices of pork, rather, let’s try to get updated about this alarming case, get down to the bottom of its possible risks to us, and spread the news to others.

Ginkgo biloba, the miracle herb that is touted to prevent dementia and improve memory, has just been proven not to be effective by a clinical trial.  This after I took several of these expensive Ginkgo biloba pills when I was reviewing for our exams in Medicine, the biggest of which was the Board Exams.  I didn’t really know but probably it was the caffeine or the nicotine that kept my mind awake and going many nights.  The effects of other nutraceuticals–which are marketed as alternatives to costly traditional medicines–have to be studied in depth lest they just become another form of money-waster in these tough times.

This totally debunks the myth that to keep one’s thinking sharp and focused, one can just take a pill.

And so the culprits are out in the case of the poor baby who was decapitated during the course of delivery at Baguio.  The NBI has just ruled in their autopsy findings that the damage was secondary to malpractice when the head was forcibly pulled from the birth canal, and not due to osteogenesis imperfecta which the doctors initially claimed.  The poor intern who performed the delivery won’t be given a shot in the medical boards anymore permanently disqualifying him from being a medical doctor he was training to be.  As I myself underwent internship, I know this is just one of those catastrophic worst-care scenarios that can happen even when great caution is exercised.  But when heads of babies roll like ball on the floor, it must really be something.