In an effort to increase good eye care especially among children and address the development of myopia especially in the ongoing pandemic, I was interviewed by Von Aquino of GMA to give some tips. Here is the link to the segment
In the past 2 years, an infection that is supposedly controlled due to the introduction of the free rubella-containing vaccine in the national vaccination program has been on the rise. Five cases of congenital rubella syndrome, a disease that has clinical manifestations resulting from the exposure of the pregnant mother and infant to the rubella virus, have been seen in Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.
This is challenging considering that most of the cases were seen after the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Part of CRS is the presence of cataract which when present in children and is visually significant, needs urgent surgery. However, due to the reduction of hospital operations, the surgeries had to be delayed. Another challenge is the fact that patients with CRS aged 1 year and younger are considered contagious unless proven otherwise by two consecutive negative tests for viral culture or its alternate which is the RT-PCR. This is because both tests are not available in BGHMC and the area and manpower are contracted since they are both diverted to COVID-19 patients as a result of BGHMC becoming a COVID-19 referral center.
Similarly, the test needed to confirm CRS, the TORCH test, is not available in BGHMC. Although the test is available in a nearby private diagnostic laboratory, it is expensive. So often, the diagnosis was initially diagnosed clinically. However, this can lead to a diagnostic dilemma especially in the presence of a TORCH coinfection, and delay the management or lead to different management.
Lastly, rubella cataract requires that intraocular lens (IOL) implantation, an optimal way for rehabilitation after cataract surgery, be delayed to prevent the addition of further inflammation which may result in visually covering and surgery requiring complications. As such, additional surgery is needed in the future for secondary IOL is needed.
