THE GLOW, JULY-OCTOBER 1998 The Glow, July-October 1998. Official Publication of CNCHS - Cabatuan National Comprehensive High School Cabatuan, Iloilo, Panay Island, Philippines Tke GFm NOVEMBER 1998 PMEC 0 I Fi ht against eas-tes Ant Talk Measles is a highly contagious disease, that continues to be one of the leading causes of childrens' death in the Philippines. Each year, around 3,000 young children die from measles, Children who suffer from measles may experience complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis, blindness, deafness, ear infection, diarrhea and dehydration, and the disease is particularly dangerous to very young and undernourished children. Measles is very easily and rapidly transmitted from person-to-person through the air or direct contact. An infected person cough out droplets containing the virus which can be inhaled by others, while secretions from the nose and throat can also transmit the infection. In any situation where people are crowded together, such as high-density living areas, schools, kindergartens, markets, public transport, etc. measles will be transmitted very quickly, and all persons not previously infected or immunized are at immediate risk of infection. The world health organization standard case definition for measles is as follows: generalized blotchy (maculopaular) rash of 3 or more-day duration, fever of 38oC or more, and at least one of the following: cough, ceryza, or conjunctivitis. If temperature is not measured, a child who feels "hot" to the touch can be considered to have fever. Fever, and a variety of non-specific symptoms accompany many other illnesses. During warm months, when measles cases are frequent, it may be difficult to differentiate the disease from German measles, roseola infantum, dengue fever and early stages of chickenpox, The DOH started to give the measles vaccine routinely to 9t-nontli-old infants in 1982. From 1989, more than 80% of 9 month-old children were receiving the vaccine every year, an excellent vaccination coverage comparable to the best in Western Pacific Region. However, at this young age, the measles vaccine has about 15% failure rate. Aside from this, the DOH started detecting a steady decline in routine infant vaccination since 1993. This meant that more and more children are missing their routine infant vaccination. This, coupled with the 15% vaccine failure rate has now produced a pool of children with no protection from measles infection. All in all, this pool of susceptibles is estimated to go between 5-6 million throughout the country. All of these children can get measles resulting in an outbreak of unimaginable proportions. To prevent this huge outbreak and to eventually reduce measles to 'zero' cases in the Philippines, the Philippine government is embarking on an ambitious 10-year campaign to eliminate measles in the country using a strategy demonstrated to be effective in the region of the America. The Philippine Measles Elimination Campaign (PMEC) is a multi-sector campaign coordinated by the Department of Health and participated in among others, by the local government units; by government agencies such as Department of Education (DECS), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILL), the Department of National Defense (DND); by UN agencies such as the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO); by non- government partners such as the German agency Kreditanstalt auf Weiderhaubau (KFW), the Rotary Club and the Zonta Club; by professional groups such as the pediatric, midwifery and nursing Societies; and by industrial sectors. The first siege to launch the attack against measles will be a one-month mass measles vaccination targeted at more than 26 million children between the ages 9 months to less than 15 years old. This month is called the "Ligtas Tigdas Month". It is scheduled for September 16 to October 14, 1998. With this magnitude, the Philippines will be the first to launch a massive campaign against measles in the Western Pacific Region and in Asia. This massive attack will be done only once. The next mass campaign will be targeted at children between 1-5 years old by year 2003. All children reaching 9 months old will continue to get one dose of measles vaccine as part of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI). The target of EPI continues to be the full immunization of every child against 7 diseases; childhood tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, poliomyelitis and measles by the time he reaches 1 year old. Since the devolution of health services nationally, Fully Immunized Coverage (FIC) declined from more than 905 in 1990 to barely 805 in 1998. Under PMEC, efforts will be made to increase and sustain FIC to at least 95% in all areas. During this one-month component, 100% of children between 9 months and under 15 years will be vaccinated with measles vaccine. This is called 'Ligtas Tigdas Month'. The purpose is to prevent an explosive outbreak of measles from occuring. 'File only way to prevent such an outbreak is to immunize all susceptibles before they become infected. In the future, additional mass measles vaccination will be provided periodically for Ants raise fungal crops, herd aphids, and wage war, all of which requires efficient communication. Entomologists know that ants relay information to one another with chemicals called pheromones. But the chemical grapevine may not be the preferred medium for urgent communication, says acoustical engineer Robert Hickling of the University of Mississippi. His experiments with fire ants suggest that the ant hot lien for distress or danger may be acoustic. It's well known that ants generate faint sounds by rubbing a small appendage called a gaster up and down over ridges oil their backs, and that other ants detect those vibrations with their sensitive bodies. (Ants have no ears.) But there has not been enough research into the role these signals play in ant behavior, says Bradleigh Vinson, an entomologist at Texas A & M familiar with Hickling's work. "Bob's behavioral observations have certainly stirred up interest," says Vinson, "especially because his acoustic equipment is so sensitive." Hickling has been studying ways to control fire ants - an aggressive South American species, accidentally introduced into this country, that has spread throughout the South. One day, out of sheer curiosity, he inserted a small microphone into a fire ant mound and listened. "It wasn't activity sounds that we heard - you knows, ants running children in the age range 9 months to 5 years. The purpose of these follow up mass vaccinations will be to reduce susceptibles as they accumulate and before they can cause another outbreak. The exact timing of such mass vaccinations will depend upon the success of the 'Ligtas Tigdas Month' and routine EPI coverage achieved each year. Reporting of measles cases will be strengthened. All provinces and cities will establish baseline levels of measles incidence by age and Municipality. This will enable them to show the decline in cases after the 'Ligtas Tigdas Month'. From October 1998, each suspected case of measles (i.e. any child with fever and up and down," says Hickling. "Instead we heard agitated stridulation - scraping - like a general alarm. Immediately they attacked the probe." Hickling placed some of the ants in a plastic box with acoustic sensors on the bottom to measure the frequency of their noises. At the same time, he monitored the ants with a video camera. At first, he says, "they were pretty quiet." Then he put a caterpillar into their box. The ants put gaster to ridges for a long low-frequency signal, then set upon their prey. This "attack" call says Tickling, was similar to the "alarm" that had sounded when the probe penetrated the mount. Later, when one ant got an antenna caught between the wall and the lid of the box, Hickling says, "I could actually see it moving its gaster up and down, and the sound matched the video image. Other ants quickly freed their nest-mate. Hickling concludes that the trapped ant had put out a distress signal and that the other ants had responded. Although Hickling can't be sure the ants in any of his experiments weren't emitting pheromones as well, he points out that it would make sense for them to favor acoustic communication when time is of the essence. "Because sound is faster than pheromone molecules diffusing through the air," he says, "the ants may rely on it in urgent situations." Source: Discover rash) must be identified, reported and tested for antibiotics against measles. Reporting sites will include all major health facilities where children are treated such as hospitals (public or private), all main health centers and all private clinics. The 'Ligtas Tigdas Month' aims to vaccinate 100% of children in the Philippines between 9 months and under 15 years with measles vaccine (about 27 million children); to eliminate the pool of measles susceptible children by the end of the mass vaccination period; and to interrupt measles transmission in all communities. Researched by Basrah Galindo Source: PMEC Guide for Field Impelementors Odds and Ends hi Science Researched by Joan Clementir Are Hot Peppers Bad for Your Stomach? The answer is no, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Doctors fed a study group four different kinds of meals. The first meal was steak and french fries with no spices. The second meal was the same but the people took six aspirin tablets before they ate. The third meal was Mexican, featuring a lot of Japaleno peppers; and the fourth consisted of pepperoni pizza. After each meal, the doctors examined the stomachs of the subjects. Even the doctors were surprised to discover no signs of severe irritation of the stomach lining, except following the meal preceded by aspirin. Source: Health and Home A Healthy Glow Playing with toys isn't an obvious way to fight cancer but doctors at biotech firm Prolume Ltd. hope it'll help. They've cloned a bioluminescent enzyme in jellyfish and other sea creatures that give off light and are adding it to a new line of toys, including squirt gun that shoots glowing water. Profits from toy sales will help fund medical applications like a1umor light' that make cancer cells visible. Source: Newsweek Why is it said that fright will make the hair stand on end? Countless stories of the macabre, illustrated in suitable fashion, tell how the hair of terrified victims has suddenly stood on the end. The phenomenon appears to be author's invention perpetuated by tradition because physicians deny that scalp hair will stand on end for any length of time, if at all. Goose flesh, the phenomenon in which individual body hairs suddenly bristle through color or fright, is the only verifiable example of how human hair stand erect. In this sensation a muscle called the erector pill, a Latin term meaning erector of hair within it stands upright. You will notice too that the skin takes in a pimply appearance, like that of a plucked goose, and a forest of the fine hairs suddenly stiffens and feels prickly to touch. Source: Readers Digest