Evac centers get 1-M anti-leptospirosis pills

The Department of Health (DoH) on Friday said it is set to deliver some one million capsules of doxycycline, an antibiotic used to treat leptospirosis, to evacuation centers in all regions nationwide.

On Thursday, the DoH said cases of leptospirosis are expected to rise in the coming days due to the heavy flooding caused by typhoon “Carina” and the enhanced southwest monsoon.

As of 13 July, a total of 1,258 leptospirosis cases had been recorded in the country this year, with 133 deaths.

To prepare for possible scenarios, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa was instructed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to ensure that health services were available at evacuation centers.

Herbosa checked on the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City, Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center and H. Bautista Elementary School in Marikina, and San Mateo Elementary School in San Mateo, Rizal.

The latter two schools were used as evacuation centers with around 4,000 displaced individuals each.

Herbosa said the people in evacuation centers were getting warm, cooked meals. Additionally, water, sanitation, hygiene and waste disposal services were being provided, along with mental health and psychosocial support from the DoH and local health staff.

He said he instructed all health teams to use existing referral pathways for emergency and critical cases, to direct them to larger medical centers, particularly DoH hospitals operating under “code blue” or “code white” alerts.