DOH coordinating with UAE, Mexico amid actor Manuel Masalva’s health emergency

The Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday it has reached out to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Mexico following reports that Mexican actor Manuel Masalva has been placed in a medical coma after contracting an aggressive bacterial infection after his trip to the Philippines.

DOH spokesperson Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said they are seeking more information regarding the actor’s condition, hopefully from other countries where he had been, as there was no data available locally.

“Officially, nagtanong na kami doon sa dalawang bansa na pwedeng pagkuhanan ng impormasyon. Una, nagtanong kami doon sa UAE sa Dubai kung meron bang notification na sinasabi under international health regulations,” Domingo said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview. 

(We’ve officially asked two countries where we can gather information. First, we asked the UAE in Dubai if there is a notification regarding international health regulations.)

“Nagtanong rin kami d'on sa kabila naman pwedeng panggalingan ng balita, sa Mexico, kasi isa siyang Mexican national. So ‘yun kasi ‘yung official channels na makukuha natin,” he added.

(We also asked Mexico because the actor is a Mexican national. So those are the official channels we can potentially get information from.)

According to Domingo, the DOH has yet to receive a response from the two countries. He pointed out that it may not be a cause of public concern if there’s no alert from concerned countries.

“Ang interpretation ko do’n is the fact na ‘yung UAE saka Mexico ay hindi naga-alerto, ibig sabihin na from their governments’ perspective, hindi rin ito kabaha-bahala dahil kung talagang nakakahawa ‘yan at delikado ‘yan, bago lumabas sa dyaryo ang balita o sa himpapawid ay nakarating na sa’min ‘yung notification,” he explained.

(My interpretation is, based on the fact that the UAE and Mexico did not give any alerts, their governments might not be seeing it as a concern because if what Masalva contracted is really contagious and dangerous, they would’ve reached out to us before the news came out.)

He said that the DOH also inquired with certain local government units and private hospitals, but they have not provided any feedback.

Masalva was reportedly in a “critical but stable condition” in a hospital in Dubai, UAE, based on a Los Angeles Times report.

The 34-year-old actor was reportedly in the Philippines before arriving in Dubai on March 18, where he "began to feel internal discomfort and pain which increased by the day."

He underwent emergency surgery on March 26 after doctors identified the bacteria. The following day, the infection spread to his lungs, and he was immediately placed in a medically induced coma.

As seen on Masalva's Instagram posts, the Mexican actor spent some time on the beaches of Palawan in February and March.

Don’t be afraid

Domingo said that based on DOH’s inference, Masalva is already getting better because he is being cured despite the bacterial infection being called “aggressive.”

“‘Yung medically induced coma, hindi po ‘yan nakakatakot. Ibig sabihin [niyan], ‘yung doktor mismo, na may pahintulot nung pasyente o nung kanyang pamilya, ang nagsabi na kailangan nating i-sedate, kailangan nating patulugin ‘yung pasyente,” he said.

(Medically induced coma is not scary. It means that the doctor, with the consent of the patient or his/her family, said that they need to sedate or put the patient to sleep.)

The Health official also called on the public not to be afraid following Masalva’s health condition as there are precautions they can follow to prevent the same from happening to them, such as refraining from eating raw seafood and not swimming in beaches if they have wounds or scratches.

Domingo also said it is possible that the actor already has a preexisting condition before getting admitted in hospital or he contracted the bacterial infection elsewhere.—AOL, GMA Integrated News