ESTONILO, Ma. Katrina Gale Z.

MD-4
Community Medicine Rotation (November 2021)

In a news release by the Philippine News Agency in February 2019, the Department of Health
Region IX discovered 14 filariasis cases in Zamboanga City which prompted the said office to
conduct oral mass drug administration to prevent the spread of filariasis in the area. Up until this
day, DOH still continues to conduct its Filariasis Elimination Program which commenced in
2001 with a goal of making the Philippines a filariasis-free country.

First discovered in 1951, specifically the species of Wuchereria bancrofti in the Bicol Region by
Dr. Benjamin Cabrera and Dr. Marcos Tubangi, filariasis have been affecting 12 out of 17
regions, and 46 out of 81 provinces in the country. It’s main vector, the mosquito Aedes poecilus
usually breeds in the water that accumulates in the leaves of banana and abaca trees. Moreover,
filariasis is more prevalent in the adult population compared to children and among males than
females which can be associated with the occupation of men who are working in abaca and
banana plantations where they have increased exposure to filariasis. Living in tropical or
subtropical areas also increases the risk of having the infection.

In addition, potential factors that may affect the spread of filariasis are the following, age, sex,
socio-economic status, education, knowledge and awareness, and beliefs and perceptions about
filariasis.

Considering that our country is implementing the Filariasis Elimination Program, new cases or
incidences of filariasis still occur. Interestingly, it occurs in far-flung areas just like in the two
far-flung barangays in Zamboanga City as reported in 2019, meaning there is still a lot to do in
terms of social awareness to address this disease. However, we can still say that there is a big
development in eliminating filariasis in the Philippines, in a journal article by Kron and
colleagues in 2000, filariasis is endemic in 45 out of 77 provinces and in a recent article made by
Leonardo and colleagues in 2019, out of 46 provinces where filariasis is known to be endemic,
40 of which are already filariasis-free.

In the interactive database of the World Health Organization in the year 2020, the status of Mass
Drug Administration in our country is ongoing. Table 1 reveals a more in-depth status of
Filariasis eradication in the Philippines.
Table 1. Status of Mass Drug Administration in the Philippines against Filariasis 2020. Lifted
form World Health Organization
Status of Mass Drug Administration Ongoing

Type of Mass Drug Administration Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) + Albendazole (ALB)

Mapping status Completed

Population requiring preventive 1,911,463

chemotherapy for lymphatic
filariasis

Proportion of global population 0.221

requiring preventive chemotherapy
for lymphatic filariasis (%)

Number of districts requiring 2

preventive chemotherapy for
lymphatic filariasis

Number of districts implementing 2

preventive chemotherapy for
lymphatic filariasis

Proportion of districts achieving 100

effective (>65%) coverage (%)

Reported number of people treated 1,685,852

for lymphatic filariasis

National coverage (%) 88.2

Geographical coverage (%) 100

Program coverage (%) 88.2

Databases from DOH and WHO are reliable sources that can be used in creating reviews or
studies related to filariasis. Epidemiologic studies done by these agencies provide credible and
real-time results that may aid in determining how far are we in becoming free of filariasis..

Despite encountering new incidences of filariasis, we can still consider that there is a big
improvement in decreasing the prevalence of filariasis in the country, especially in areas where it
is endemic. Continuous implementation of the mass drug administration should be done in order
to achieve the goal of eradicating filariasis in the Philippines once and for all.
References:

Antonet Go, R. G. (2019, February 4). DOH-9 discovers 14 filariasis cases in Zambo City.

Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1060962

Kron, M., Walker, E., Hernandez, L., Torres, E., & Libranda-Ramirez, B. (2000). Lymphatic

Filariasis in the Philippines. Parasitology Today, 16(8), 329–333.

https://doi.org/10.1016/s0169-4758(00)01705-1

Leonardo, L., Hernandez, L., Magturo, T. C., Palasi, W., Rubite, J. M., de Cadiz, A., Moendeg,

K., Fornillos, R. J., Tabios, I. K., Mistica, M., & Fontanilla, I. K. (2020). Current status of

neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in the Philippines. Acta Tropica, 203, 105284.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.105284

Lymphatic filariasis: Status of mass drug administration 2020. (n.d.). World Health

Organization. https://apps.who.int/neglected_diseases/ntddata/lf/lf.html