'RAMIL' ACCELERATES; STORM SIGNALS STILL UP IN NORTH /
LEPTO CASES DOWN
[PHOTO
AT LEFT - Girls play along the shores of Barangay Palawig yesterday in Sta. Ana,
Cagayan, where typhoon ‘Ramil’ was predicted to make landfall.
ERNIE PENAREDONDO | MANILA, Philippines]
MANILA, OCTOBER 23, 2009 (STAR) By Helen Flores - The weather bureau warned residents yesterday that typhoon “Ramil,” packing winds of 160 kilometers per hour, regained speed and was forecast to make landfall over Aparri, Cagayan this morning.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) raised yesterday afternoon storm warning signal no. 3 over the Batanes Group of Islands, Cagayan, including Calayan and Babuyan Islands, Apayao and Ilocos Norte.
Signal no. 2 was hoisted over Kalinga, Isabela, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, La Union, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Aurora.
Placed under signal no. 1 were the provinces of Pangasinan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, and northern Quezon, including Polillo Islands.
Pagasa deputy administrator Nathaniel Cruz urged residents in areas affected by the typhoon to brace for heavy rains and strong winds.
He warned residents in the eastern coast of northern and central Luzon, including Palanan, Isabela and northern Aurora, against storm surge.
As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the eye of the typhoon was spotted some 180 kms east of Aparri, packing winds of 160 kph and gustiness of up to 195 kph.
Ramil was forecast to move west southwest at 13 kph.
Pagasa reiterated the warning on possible flash floods and landslides due to torrential rains triggered by the storm.
Pagasa administrator Prisco Nilo said Ramil accelerated yesterday because the high-pressure area over the South China Sea, which was previously blocking its path, moved northward toward Hong Kong.
Nilo said there is only a “10 percent” probability that Ramil would not hit land.
He said the typhoon is likely to hit the Sierra Madre mountain range and is expected to weaken.
Early yesterday, Pagasa officials said Ramil was moving very slowly due to the influence of two high-pressure areas – one over the South China Sea and the other over the Pacific Ocean.
Cruz appealed to residents living in high-risk areas in northern and central Luzon to remain inside evacuation centers until Ramil moves away from the region.
“Let’s sacrifice a little by staying in evacuation centers while waiting for the typhoon to pass. Lives are at stake here,” Cruz said.
Ramil is expected to be at 80 kms southwest of Aparri this afternoon; at 270 kms west of Vigan, Ilocos Sur or at 270 kms southwest of Laoag City tomorrow afternoon.
By Sunday afternoon, it would be at 570 kms west of Vigan.
Ramil is the 18th tropical cyclone to enter the country this year and the third weather disturbance this month.
Leptospirosis cases going down - DOH By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star) Updated October 23, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Health (DOH) is seeing a downward trend in leptospirosis cases but warned that this might be reversed after typhoon “Ramil.”
“If you look at the graph, it peaked for three more days and then went down. We hope that this trend continues but, of course, we foresee that typhoon Ramil, as we have gathered from news, will cause more rains to come and so more flooded communities, representing added risk to our people in the affected areas,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
DOH records showed that as of Oct. 21, a total of 1,963 leptospirosis cases in 15 Metro Manila hospitals, including 148 deaths, was recorded.
But the number of new cases in a day had started to go down since Oct. 16, which chalked up a total of 329 cases. On Oct. 17, a total of 329 cases were recorded while on Oct. 19, only 171 cases were monitored.
On Oct. 20 and Oct. 21, a total of 171 and 51 cases, respectively, were recorded by the DOH.
The decrease was attributed to the prophylaxis treatment administered by the DOH in affected communities and increased public awareness about the ways to avoid contracting leptospirosis.
Duque claimed in a press briefing that during the first week of giving out 2.6 million capsules of 100 mg doxicycline, a prophylactic or antibiotic, in affected communities, the DOH had spent P4 million.
But based on partial reports of DOH-run hospitals, the agency had already spent up to P5 million in the treatment and management of leptospirosis.
Asked about the possibility of using rock salt to fight off leptospirosis bacteria, Duque admitted that salt could neutralize leptospirosis bacteria but “it may be difficult to do.”
“We’re talking here of an open system so how much salt are you going to put? How can you maintain the salinity of water? There is also an ingress and egression of water… This needs thorough scientific study,” he said.
The DOH signed yesterday a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with five private hospitals where the agency could refer leptospirosis patients, with a subsidy package from the DOH.
“The sudden upsurge of leptospirosis cases after the massive flooding caused by tropical storm ‘Ondoy’ and typhoon ‘Pepeng’ brought us to a situation where we need to get into special arrangements with medical facilities from the private sector to help the government treat patients, especially the non-PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corp. ) member indigents. So, with this subsidy package for leptospirosis we aim to cover all those who need medical attention but cannot afford to due to financial constraints,” he added.
The hospitals are Capitol Medical Center, MCU-F.D. Tanchoco Medical Foundation Hospital, Manila Doctors Hospital, Los Baños Doctors Hospital, and The Medical City.
Under the MOA, leptospirosis patients that could no longer be accommodated in DOH hospitals could be sent to these private facilities.
The DOH will provide a subsidy package of P5,000 for patients with “uncomplicated” cases while those with complications will be assisted in the amount of P20,000.
“But patients cannot just go to these private hospitals and avail of this treatment package because only those that will be referred by the DOH hospitals due to congestion will be accommodated by our pre-identified referral private facilities,” Duque maintained.