The global incidence of dengue has grown dramatically, with about half of the world’s population now at risk. In fact, dengue incidence in the last 50 years has increased 30-fold, expanding to new countries, from urban to rural settings. The Philippines is among the top countries where dengue is endemic, and for several months now, […]
Over the past few decades, specialization in emergency medicine has grown and developed in response to a burgeoning need in the Philippines. An emergency physician diagnoses and treats patients with critical illnesses or injuries, particularly trauma victims with multiple organ dysfunction who require immediate care. Time is of the essence in an emergency. The […]
Climate change is said to be the greatest threat to public health. There are multiple and complex pathways for the negative impacts of climate change, from issues on food security, injuries, and disasters, to catastrophic events. Climate change also triggers slow onset events (SOE) like rising sea levels, which may threaten archipelagos like […]
A new COVID-19 Omicron sub-variant named XBB1.5 or “Kraken” has rapidly spread worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that it is the most transmissible variant of Omicron so far. It is a descendant of the subvariant XBB which has recently swept Singapore. Fortunately, there is no evidence that it causes more severe illnesses. However, […]
The COVID-19 pandemic’s most far-reaching impact is its huge toll on people’s mental health. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 23 to 46 percent of healthcare workers experience anxiety symptoms, while 20 to 37 percent have depression. Burnout has also reportedly spiked among the population, even more so heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Control […]
The past two and a half years have been a rollercoaster ride of trials and errors in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the harder obstacles that had to be dealt with was how to keep the workforce afloat while protecting employees not only at work but even as they go home to their […]
The COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet. As long as people are getting infected, there is a chance that the virus will keep mutating. However, we have come a long way from how things started in 2020. Vaccination, testing, and various treatments have helped us get back to a semblance of normalcy and, most importantly, […]
As the holiday season approaches, it is expected that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country will once again spike. Omicron continues to be the dominant variant, and unfortunately, new subvariants have cropped up anew: XBB, which is a recombinant of BJ.1 (of the BA2.10.1 sublineage) and BM.1.1.1 (of the BA.2.75 sublineage); and BQ.1.1, […]
Experts have noticed an increasing number of individuals with asymptomatic liver disease and abnormal liver profile tests. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) can remain benign but also progress to severe conditions like cirrhosis and liver failure. Some of the risk factors and co-morbidities of COVID-19 include the linkage of NAFLD with obesity, diabetes, and dyslipidemia-metabolic […]
The University of the Philippines will allow 100% face-to-face classes in all its undergraduate courses in the second semester of the current academic year, AY 2022-2023. This is complementary to the university’s adoption of hybrid and blended learning to equip students for the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and achieve educational resilience in […]
