There are no recommended specific measures in place yet for schools in case mpox cases in the Davao Region would increase, a Department of Health 11 official said.
As classes are expected to open on Monday, June 16, Dr. Hansel Amoguis, head of the infectious diseases cluster of DOH 11, said during the Interagency Convergence Meeting for the Opening of Classes SY 2025-2026 Tuesday morning that there are no recommendations so far from the national office to suspend classes or to close schools should an mpox case will be found.
“We need to determine the source patient or index case first before we can say that infection does not spread as fast like Covid. Covid is airborne, but mpox is not,” she said during the meeting at the Department of Education regional office along F. Torres St.
Amoguis was referring to the Covid-19 virus, the cause of a worldwide pandemic that started in early 2020. The Philippines used community quarantines during the height of the pandemic, which resulted to temporary closures of schools and later would move the school year 2020-2021 to start in October.
As a result, it was just during the current school year, 2025-2026, that the school calendar is being normalized back to start in June and end in March.
However, Amoguis said they are continually urging schools to implement preventive measures such as avoiding individuals with skin lesions, more efficient information dissemination of mpox symptoms to students, and ensure minimum health protocols such as washing of hands and proper hygiene.
“If you have fever, we recommend students to not attend classes, then we can prevent ourselves to keep mingling with large groups of people and also use masks if we have cough or colds,” she added.
Allan Farnazo, DepEd-11 regional director, said that as early November 2024, they already issued a memorandum to schools that in cases there are diseases that spread through direct contact, the school can only recommend regular washing of hands with soap and water, using of sanitizers with at least 60 to 90 percent alcohol component, cleaning of surfaces with disinfectants, avoiding close contacts with sick persons, and possible quarantining or isolating the sick persons.
There is, however, no recommendation to suspend classes, Farnazo emphasized.
As of June 2, Dr. David A. Mendoza, assistant regional director of DOH-11, confirmed that Davao Region has eight confirmed mpox cases.
Mpox is a viral zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus transmitted through skin-to-skin contact with infected individuals, exposure to bodily fluids and respiratory droplets, and contact with contaminated materials.
It was initially detected in the 1970s but only declared as a public health disease of international concern in 2024.
Symptoms of mpox include rashes or lesions on parts of the body, lymph nodes, fever, loss of appetite, and severe fatigue. The disease is primarily transmitted through close contact. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
