Iloilo readies round 2 of Filariasis mass drug administration
Health authorities in Region VI and the local government of Iloilo are all set to eliminate Filariasis in Iloilo province starting October 15 to November 15, 2009.
“Filariasis one of the eradicable diseases,” said Dr. Patricia Grace Trabado, provincial health officer of the Iloilo Provincial Health Office in a telephone interview with PIA, recently.
Trabado appealed for public’s cooperation and support to the government’s health program in order to achieve the filaria-free status.
She said Filaria can be eradicated through mass drug administration, once a year for five years. She explained that only 85% of the population is needed to achieve the filaria free declaration for the province.
It will be recalled that Filariasis in Iloilo was detected from a patient of Lambunao, Iloilo, and based on the nocturnal blood survey conducted in the municipality of Lambunao, it revealed more than 5 percent of micro-filaria rate.
The five percent micro-filaria category of the National Filaria Elimination program declared Iloilo province as moderately endemic province for filarial, last year, thus the mass drug administration was conducted.
Lymphatic Filariasis is a severely debilitating and stigmatizing disease caused by parasitic worms. These worms lodge in the lymphatic system- the network of nodes and vessels that maintain the fluid balance between the tissues and blood- which is an essential component of the body’s immune system.
The Iloilo Provincial Health Officer said that Lymphatic Filariasis causes elephantiasis, an abnormal enlargement of the limbs (legs or arms) and of the genitals. (PIA6/T.Villavert)