I started thinking back when the coronavirus first hit the Philippines, and the impacts that other calamities have had on the nation. I started my research and was amazed at what I found out.
Relating to dengue fever in the Philippines, there were 25,502 cases as of Feb. 8, with a total of 78 deaths. Surprising enough, this was 38 percent lower than the same period in 2019 when the government declared a national dengue epidemic. That year ended with over 1,600 dying from the calamity. More than half of the deaths were children (unlike the coronavirus nowo which is mostly affecting the elderly).
The Department of Health encouraged the citizens to do the 4S against dengue: Search and destroy breeding grounds for mosquitoes; Self-protection measures; Seek early consultation; Support the intervention of preventive measures.
We had become accustomed to reports that someone was being treated for dengue. People just shook their heads, and moved on with life, thankful it didn’t happen to them.
A young girl in Manila was treated for dengue, and got to the point where she was ready to be released from the hospital. The parents were so happy and relieved but as they were ready to depart, the young girl started bleeding profusely and soon died. The parents were devastated.
I now wonder if have you seen what I call “mosquitoes hotel”? Where I often train with my athletes at the Perdices Stadium Oval, there is an underpass that is filled with stagnant water most of the time. Why is that?
Regarding tuberculosis, I found that in 2018 alone, it affected over 590,000 Filipinos, with 26,000 deaths from the bacteria. The Philippines ranks third in the world in the number of TB cases, trailing behind South Africa and Lesotho.
One million Filipinos are infected with active TB, which remains the No. 1 killer among all infectious diseases.
One and a half million people worldwide died from TB in 2018.
In the Philippines, TB kills 70 patients per day, mostly those who are poor. It affects mostly the young who are not able to get medical intervention on time.
When the lockdown due to the coronavirus was implemented here, a woman was going to the TB clinic to get her medications. She was, however, asked to turn back at the checkpoint since she had no prescription report from the clinic.
How could she have gotten any prescription when she was not allowed to proceed to the clinic?
Meanwhile, the first report of the coronavirus making its ugly appearance in the country was on Jan. 30.
As of April 8, the Philippines has had 3,870 cases of the coronavirus, with 182 deaths. In the Philippines thus far, no one under 29 years old has died from the coronavirus. At least one person within the age bracket 30-39 has died.
CoViD-19 affects mostly the elderly or those over the age of 50.
Why, you may ask? The elderly/senior citizens normally have more underlying medical conditions: heart disease, diabetes, respiratory conditions, and therefore, are more dependent on more medications.
Italy, for instance, recorded that 99 percent of their coronavirus-related deaths were the elderly. Europe’s greatest concentration of older people happen to live in the northern part of Italy.
I belong to the elderly/senior citizens group. I am 71 years old.
But by the grace of God, I don’t need to take any medications. I continue to run at least six days a week. I lift weights five times a week. My resting heart rate is 55 beats per minute. I have been a runner most of my life.
Everyday, my wife and I drink a green shake of arugula, spinach, alugbati, and barley powder. Of course, it does not taste good, but I treat the drink as my medicine for any natural ailment.
My diet is basically plant-based, and I eat very little meat. I strive to practice what I teach my PE classes at the Presbyterian School about the need to watch what we eat.
I warn them against TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide), a substance produced during digestion and metabolism which has negative effects on our body.
I tell my students how we need to look at the Bible for guidance on our food intake. Daniel Chapter 1 is a good part to start for understanding diets.
Proverbs 23 verses 1 and 2 sum it up quite nicely: “Put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.”
Now, there is much interest in the media about a drug called hydroxychloroquine and its good effects against the coronavirus, in combination with other medicines.
If I was dying in a hospital bed, and my doctor advised me that I might survive if I took a certain medication that has promise of some success, I would immediately give my approval.
By the way, this time during CoViD is another good reason to quit smoking, as cases have shown that smokers are less likely to survive a coronavirus infection.
My final take: if you are among the elderly, and the coronavirus returns next year as the flu does each year, just continue on watching what you eat and drink, and exercise regularly. Nothing beats that.
The coronavirus so far averages 120 deaths per month, dengue 133 deaths per month, and TB 2,100 deaths per month. So who is the winner?
No one, of course, since we all lose a friend, a husband or wife, a family member, and worst of all, a child. (Outbreaknewstoday.com, Aljazeera, DOH website, worldometers.info, Forbes.com, rappler.com, philstar.com, FoxNews, ABS CBN, CNN)
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