The Department of Health has declared Davao City as filariasis-free following its conduct of a Filaria Transmission Assessment Survey, which showed that there had been no single case recorded in the city for the entire year of 2018.
Dr. Annabelle Yumang, the DOH 11 director, credited this to the city government’s vigorous campaign against various forms of illnesses and infections, under Mayor Inday Sara Duterte’s health program. Health is among Mayor Inday’s 10-point agenda.
“Due to the successful campaign of Davao City, there was no recorded filaria case here last year. We awarded P1 million to the city government, which they can use for their program against filariasis,” Yumang said.
Filiaria is a threadlike parasitic worm transmitted to humans by flies and mosquitoes.
Mayor Inday said the campaign of the City Health Office (CHO) against the infection had paid off.
“The City Health Office does not stop on their campaign against filariasis, they go the the hinterland and continuously give treatment to those who tested positive of filaria,” she added.
Dr. Josephine Villafuerte, the CHO head, said they treated those who tested positive of filaria, as well as the people in the vicinity of a filaria case, for 5 years.
“We do deworming every year to ensure that all filaria worms will be flushed out from the human body. We make sure that there are no longer worms in their body,” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte explained that when a filaria-carrying mosquito bites a person, a worm can be left inside and can multiply, causing inflammation in the different parts of the body. CIO
