Infectious and disease expert urged the public on Saturday, Sept. 30, to “tone down” their panic amid the rise of flu-like illnesses as the Nipah virus is yet to be detected in the country.
“Klaruhin ko lang, wala pa tayong Nipah virus dito sa Pilipinas just to tone down yung nag-panic na akala nila yung mga nagkakasakit ngayon ng respiratory symptoms na-Nipah. Wala pa tayong confirmed na Nipah virus sa Pilipinas,” Dr. Rontgene Solante said in an interview with DZRH.
Difference of symptoms in COVID
Solante also explained that there were differences in symptoms of the Nipah virus and COVID since the former came from animals like fruit bats or even infected pigs.
“Meron talaga pinagkaiba ang sintomas ng COVID o mga influenza sa Nipah dahil ang Nipah virus [since] galing siya sa animal kagaya ng fruit bat or even those infected pigs,” he said, claiming that fever was the only symptom it shared with the Nipah virus.
“Dito sa Nipah virus, walang ubo, walang mga tinatawag na sore throat na nakikita natin dun sa COVID. Ang common symptoms nito ang yung pananakit ng katawan at headache. Some of these patients na napaka-severe ng headache nila will proceed to inflammation ng brain [...] yung tinatawag natin na encephalitis,” he added.
The infectious and disease expert said the World Health Organization (WHO) flagged Nipah virus as a “deadly and highly fatal virus” because of its involvement in the brain.
“Pwede itong ma-transmit halimbawa yung isang tao merong Nipah virus tapos nalapitan ng isang tao [nang] hindi nagsusuot ng gloves [tapos] hahawakan yung mga body fluids niya, pwedeng ma-transfer [ito],” he said.
No remedy, vaccine yet for Nipah virus
Solante also shared the concern that no medicine nor vaccine were yet to be discovered to alleviate the symptoms of the Nipah virus.
“Yun ang isa sa concern natin ngayon kaya nga dineclare siya sa WHO na a “deadly and highly fatal virus” dahil nga at this point wala tayong gamot na maibibigay kung halimbawa madapuan ka ng Nipah virus [...] at ang isang bagay din kung bakit siya binabantayan ng WHO is wala pa ring bakuna ito,” Solante said.
He also explained that there had been a few outbreaks for the past 20 years since the virus was first discovered.
“For the past 20 years, meron talagang pabugso-bugso na mga outbreak [...] Ito yung dalawang bansa, Bangladesh at India na parang suki na talaga dito sa Nipah,” he said, further stating that these areas were common home to fruit bats that carry the virus.
“Isa sa sa mga nakikita diyan bakit napalapit ang fruit bats sa mga tao because of urbanization and climate change kaya lumalabas itong infections galing sa mga animals,” he added.
The Department of Health (DOH) earlier reported that it was yet to detect cases of Nipah virus in the country.
