'Walking pneumonia' in PH? DOH waiting for PGH report

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said it is waiting for the report of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) if the increase of pneumonia cases in its facility is due to mycoplasma pneumoniae.

“Hinihintay natin ang report nila kasi hindi po routine ang pagpapa-test sa mycoplasma pneumoniae,” DOH Undersecretary Enrique Tayag said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a bacteria that causes “walking pneumonia.”

“Kaya ‘walking’ kasi hindi akala ng tinamaan nito na mayroon pala siyang pneumonia kasi kaya niyang pumasok ng trabaho, paaralan,” Tayag said.

(It is called ‘walking’ because the infected person does not feel he has pneumonia and the person can still go to work or school.)

“Pero kapag pina-examine iyong x-ray, teka muna may pneumonia ka (But when examined through x-ray, it will be revealed that the person has pneumonia),” he added.

According to Tayag, China and the Netherlands have reported unusual surges of pneumonia cases due to mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Asked if the surge of mycoplasma pneumoniae could lead to a pandemic, Tayag said it is hard to tell at this point.

“Ang alam lang natin ngayon, maliban sa bansang Tsina, ang Netherlands nag-report na rin. So ngayon sa Pilipinas, pinatitignan natin iyan sapagkat kasama tayo sa pangkalahatang pagre-report kung meron tayong unusual na na-obserbahan po,” he said.

(What we only know is that aside from China, the Netherlands also reported a surge. Right now in the Philippines, we are monitoring it because we are included in the overall reporting for unusual observations on illnesses.)

The PGH earlier noted an increase in pneumonia cases at the hospital.

"Ang problema po siyempre kapag naka-intubate, matagal-tagal po ang gamutan. Dahil sa mostly nga po severe ang pneumonia nila, hindi po sila basta-basta rin makapasok sa loob ng ospital dahil ang ICU po ay puno din," said Dr. Jonas del Rosario, PGH spokesperson.

(The problem is of course when intubated, the treatment takes longer. Because their pneumonia is mostly severe, they can't just enter the hospital because the ICU is also full.)

Del Rosario said the symptoms of pneumonia include difficulty in breathing, chest pain, and persistent fever.

For its part, the Department of Education (DepEd) said it has yet to monitor an increase in pneumonia cases in public schools. 

"According to our regional directors, no incidents of pneumonia cases have been reported to them so far. We will continue to monitor,” said DepEd Spokesperson Michael Poa in Sandra Aguinaldo’s “24 Oras” report. —With Sundy Locus/KBK, GMA Integrated New