(Eagle News)–The local government of Quezon City denied information on social media there was a meningococcemia outbreak in Novaliches.
“There was no outbreak at all. Everything is under control,” Doctor Olivia Favor, medical director of the Novaliches District Hospital, said in a Facebook post.
The rumors on social media started circulating after a temporary shutdown of the emergency room of the NDH.
But the NDH said the shutdown was merely a “biosafety measure after an 11-year-old boy was taken to the facility for treatment” last January 4.
“To prevent the contagious disease from spreading, we closed the emergency room facility for 24 hours with appropriate decontamination of all the equipment used on the said patient using UV (ultraviolet) light,” Favor said, noting that the shutdown “was a normal preventive measure,” and that the “risk has never been considered a threat.”
The NDH said preventive treatment was also given to hospital patients and employees who were exposed to the patient.
