Diagnosis and management of childhood tuberculosis in public health clinics in a rural area in the Philippines: Results from a community surveillance

@#<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>BACKGROUND:</strong> Childhood tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant health problem worldwide despite the increase in its emphasis on national health programs.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>OBJECTIVE:</strong> This study aimed to describe how TB in children is identified and managed in a routine TB program in a rural setting in a high-burden country.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>METHODS:</strong> This is a prospective, community-based surveillance study in public rural clinics in the Philippines. Observations on case finding and management of TB in children as well as contact tracing in an existing TB program are described.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>RESULTS:</strong> Out of 266 children with presumptive TB, 41 (15.4%) were cases of TB, 15 (5.6%) had latent TB infection (LTBI), 81 (30.5%) had TB exposure, and 129 (48.5%) had no TB. There were 37 (90%) TB cases who were clinically diagnosed. Ninety-three percent (93%) of children with TB disease were cured or completed treatment. Among 25 children targeted for isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) for LTBI and TB exposure, only 12 (52%) completed the recommended 6 months of IPT. Only 40 (43%) children aged 0 to 4 years exposed to smear-positive TB cases were screened.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CONCLUSION:</strong> Barriers in the diagnosis, low IPT completion, and problems in contact tracing may hinder the successful implementation of TB programs for children.</p>

Sexual exploitation and abuse of children online in the Philippines: A review of online news and articles

@#<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>BACKGROUND:</strong> Advances in information and communication technologies facilitate opportunities for sexual exploitation and abuse of children online (SEACO). Despite the presence of laws against child pornography, trafficking, and cybercrime, the Philippines has become known as a key hub of the billion-dollar global child cybersex industry.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>OBJECTIVE:</b> The objective of this study was to provide insight on SEACO in the Philippines.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>METHODS:</strong> The methodology consisted of a review of readily available news articles and reports. The search term "Philippines cybersex" was used in Advanced Search in Google News (https://news.google.com.ph) for English language reports from 1995 to 2015 to describe the geographic distribution of media reported cases of SEACO, the profile of victims and offenders, and how offenders and victims became involved in SEACO.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>RESULTS:</b> The review found 55 reports and articles from 2011 to 2015. Cases were reported from 9 regions in the country with victims ranging from 18 months to 17 years in age. Three types of SEACO were identified: live streaming of child sexual abuse, child sexual abuse material (child pornography), and sextortion using minors.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CONCLUSION:</strong> Cases of SEACO were found to be present throughout the country. National policies and preventive measures are needed to stem this crime.</p>

The burden of congenital rubella syndrome in the Philippines: results from a retrospective assessment

Introduction: In line with the regional aim of eliminating rubella and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), phased introduction of rubella-containing vaccines (RCV) in the Philippines’ routine immunization programme began in 2010. We estimated the burden of CRS in the country before widespread nationwide programmatic RCV use. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review in four tertiary hospitals. Children born between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2014 and identified as possible CRS cases based on the presence of one or more potential manifestations of CRS documented in hospital or clinic charts were reviewed. Cases that met the clinical case definition of CRS were classified as either confirmed (with laboratory confirmation) or probable (without laboratory confirmation). Cases that did not fulfil the criteria for either confirmed or probable CRS were excluded from the analysis. Results: We identified 18 confirmed and 201 probable cases in this review. Depending on the hospital, the estimated incidence of CRS ranged from 30 to 233 cases per 100 000 live births. The estimated national burden of CRS was 20 to 31 cases per 100 000 annually. Discussion: This is the first attempt to assess the national CRS burden using in-country hospital data in the Philippines. Prospective surveillance for CRS and further strengthening of the ongoing measles-rubella surveillance are necessary to establish accurate estimates of the burden of CRS and the impact of programmatic RCV use in the future.