Tawa-tawa 'invades' Quiapo stalls as dengue cases hit epidemic level

Photo by Danny Pata

Tawa-Tawa (Euphorbia hirta) is now among medicinal herbs vendors at the Quiapo Church in Manila are selling after the Health Department declared last week that dengue has become a national epidemic.

Quiapo vendor Juanita Feliciano on Saturday shows the tawa-tawa leaves (or gatas-gatas) she is selling among herbs at her stall.

In a 2012 study, Department of Science and Technology's Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) indicated that tawa-tawa has anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties and its supposed ability to increase blood platelets. It has an active ingredient that could lead to the development of treatments for dengue.

Last August 6, the Department of Health declared that dengue is already a national epidemic, as the number of cases from the mosquito-borne virus rose to nearly 100% from January to July this year, compared to the same period last year.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said a total of 146,062 cases have been recorded from January to July 20, which is 98% higher than the same period in 2018.

The rise in the number of dengue cases came in the midst of the controversy on Dengvaxia, a potential vaccine for the disease.

The controversy arose in November 2017 when manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur announced that the vaccine may lead to more severe symptoms of dengue for those who have never been infected by the virus prior to vaccination.

As a result, the DOH stopped the school-based dengue immunization program and proposed to Duterte a panel of Asian health experts that will look into safety issues raised against the vaccine.

With the absence of a potential cure for dengue, a local firm is developing a supplement that may deter the dengue virus.

"When we developed this product, marami nang gumagamit ng tawa-tawa. So what we did is we created an extract. 'Yung extract na product kasi ano siya pwede mong i-standardize 'yung active compound," said Philip Cruz, president of Herbanext, in a reporte on GMA News' "24-Oras."  —LBG, GMA News