THE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), in collaboration with Sanofi Pasteur recently conducted a dengue awareness forum for PhilHealth employees at the Head Office in Pasig City.
Dubbed "Kagat ng Lamok, Nakakatepok!," the forum, which aims to provide comprehensive information on dengue fever, was attended by 30 employees from different departments in the Head Office.
In her presentation, Dr. Miel Penalosa, Medical Scientific Liaison of Sanofi Pasteur emphasized the importance of early diagnosis and management of the disease. She also underscored vaccination as a form of safe, effective and affordable means for dengue control specifically for ages 9-45.
Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by the bite of an infected female Aedes mosquito. There are four (4) distinct serotypes of the dengue virus, namely, DEN 1, DEN 2, DEN 3 and DEN 4. Symptoms appear in 3–14 days after the infective bite. Dengue fever is a flu-like illness that affects infants, young children and adults.
There is no specific dengue therapeutics and prevention is currently limited to vector control measures. A dengue vaccine would therefore represent a major advance in the control of the disease.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended its other tools available for us and they have seen that vaccination actually helps and support in preventing the spread of dengue cases,” said Penalos.
The forum concluded with positive feedbacks from the attendees. Sanofi Pasteur offered discounted price of dengue vaccine for PhilHealth employees. # Source - (Arlene B. Enriquez)/PHILHEALTH
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