MANILA, Philippines – A ‘meningococcemia scare’ in a form of a text message circulated on social media over the weekend.
The sender who appeared in the text message as ‘Quennie’ was warning the public to refrain from going to Brokenshire Hospital in Davao City.
According to ‘Quennie,’ they were barred from leaving the hospital after being exposed to meningococcemia.
“Huwag kayong pumunta sa Brokenshire Hospital now kasi unfortunately na expose kami sa E.R. Nakasabay namin ang bata na late nang na-diagnose ng meningococcemia at namatay na siya,” the text message said in the local Visayan dialect.
(Do not come to Brokenshire Hospital now because unfortunately, we were exposed in the E.R. together with a boy who was diagnosed late of meningococcemia and later died.)
In a statement, the hospital management clarified that there was no meningococcemia outbreak in their hospital.
“The patient was a suspected case who exhibited signs and symptoms similar with the case definition of the disease,” Brokenshire Hospital said in an advisory.
“The ER and the hospital has been cleared by the Infection Control Committee and is now safe and operating normally as usual,” it said further.
The Davao City Health Office, meanwhile, said they have already taken blood samples from the boy for examination and confirmatory tests.
“However, there is no absolute data available now that confirms the child died of meningococcemia,” the city health office said in a statement.
“While waiting for results of the investigation, we encourage the public to keep calm, be cautious, and to refrain from spreading unnecessary information,” it added.
The Department of Health Regional Office 11 (DOH-11) also clarified that meningococcemia can be transmitted through a droplet and not airborne, as claimed by ‘Quennie’ in her test message.
Direct contact with discharges from the nose and throat of the infected person might put someone else at risk, according to DOH, and the disease can also be spread through coughing, sneezing, kissing, sharing of food, drinks, and utensils.
“We are appealing to the public to be responsible in sharing posts on social media,” the DOH-11 said.
“Let us not cause alarm nor panic to the public with unverified information,” the agency concluded. – MNP (with reports from Janice Ingente)
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