Health Boards
There has been a big media report about a Flesh Eating Disease in Pangasinan province of the Philippines, and the report is false according to the Philippine Information Agency and they appealed to media to check the validity of news reports on health-related cases before releasing to the public.
Source: pia.gov.ph
Come on Media get your facts right.
Quote:
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Feb. 26 (PIA) -- The supposed “mysterious flesh-eating illness” in Pangasinan is a hoax, the provincial health officer said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Anna Maria Teresa de Guzman belied a news report that two patients were suffering from a “mysterious” disease that is eating the flesh of its victims.
She said the patients from the towns of Santa Barbara and Villasis are actually afflicted with psoriasis and leprosy.
“Both ailments are controllable, not contagious and pose no threat to the public,” De Guzman said.
The Provincial Health Office came out with a finding after looking into a report from ABSCBN’s news program ‘Bandila” on Monday night that the patients were afflicted with rare necrotizing fasciitis or flesh-eating disease.
De Guzman said in 2011, the patient from Santa Barbara was diagnosed with leprosy, a disease that causes skin sores.
She added the patient was already treated but a drug reaction triggered the leprosy to resurface.
“Nagkaroon siya ng hypersensitivity doon sa gamot kaya nagkaroon ng reaction sa kanyang katawan (She developed hypersensitivity from a drug which caused skin reaction),” De Guzman said.
She has no menstrual period, a sign of malnutrition and anemia, which aggravated her condition, she said.
The patient, who was initially-treated in another private health facility, has now completed the treatment but may still need debridement for her skin lesions, she added.
The second patient from Villasis is ailed with severe case of psoriasis (a skin disease that causes peeling and red marks on the skin) with arthritis which prevents him from walking.
She said the victim already had psoriasis since birth (genetic) which was triggered due to various factors including weather changes and stress.
“The two reported patients are now admitted at the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital in San Carlos City to undergo further treatment and medical diagnosis,” she added.
De Guzman said the report only connected the two case studies to a prophecy by a self-titled prophet Sadhu Sundar Selvaraja of Jesus Ministries in April 2013 warning that a flesh-eating disease would spread from the Ilocos province to the world. He also prophesied the typhoons that caused destruction and heavy flooding in Luzon and Visayas last year.
She appealed to media to check the validity of news reports on health-related cases before releasing to the public.
Source: pia.gov.ph
Come on Media get your facts right.