by Franklin P. Gumapon
DIPOLOG CITY, Feb. 21 (PIA) – Personnel from the Department of Health’s (DOH) national, regional and provincial offices as well as provincial municipal health officers met here recently to gather feedback from the stakeholders on the development and testing of an integrated Tuberculosis (TB) and Paragonimiasis surveillance and control project.
Dr. Andrew Claridad, regional schistosomiasis (STH) coordinator, disclosed in said meeting that cases of tuberculosis and paragonimiasis were reported a in eight municipalities of Zamboanga del Norte with Roxas and Katipunan town having the most number of cases.
Provincial Health Officer Eduardo Luayon said Paragonimiasis is often misdiagnosed as TB, as these diseases are having similar symptoms like fever and cough, but differ in treatments.
Paragonimiasis is a food-borne parasitic infection caused by lung fluke. Diarhhea, abdominal pain, fever, cough and other pulmonary abnormalities are common signs of the acute phase of the disease.
Tuberculosis, on the other hand, is a bacterial infection that attacks the lungs and spreads through the air. Persons infected with TB would experience bad cough that lasts three weeks or longer, weight loss and coughing up blood or mucus.
Joining the group was Dr. Vicente Belizario Jr., Executive Director and Principal Investigator of the University of the Philippines Manila-National Institute of Health (UPM-NIH), which constantly conducts researches and studies aimed at discovering new ways in treating TB and paragonimiasis infections. (FPG/PIA-Zamboanga del Norte)