A case report of Japanese encephalitis in Paracelis, Mountain Province, the Philippines.

On 12 September 2022, a 10-year-old female in Paracelis municipality, Mountain Province, the Philippines, without travel history outside the municipality, experienced acute onset of fever and a change in mental status with disorientation, an altered level of consciousness and new onset of seizures. She was hospitalized at the district hospital from 1 to 3 October 2022, before being transferred to the regional hospital. As diphtheria was originally suspected, the investigation team reviewed records and reports and interviewed key informants to gather additional information and organize case finding and contact tracing.

Descriptive analysis of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak among health-care workers in a regional hospital in the Philippines.

Objective: On 25 July 2022, trainees from the Field Epidemiology Training Programme in Northern Luzon, Philippines were sent to conduct an epidemiological investigation of six confirmed cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among staff of a regional hospital in Mountain Province. The investigation had three objectives: to profile the cases, identify the source and mode of transmission, and recommend prevention and control measures.

Methods: Descriptive epidemiology was used to investigate the outbreak, with the standard case definition issued by the Philippine Department of Health.

Creating "boots on the ground": addressing the shortage of field epidemiologists in the Philippines through intermediate-level training programmes.

Problem: As of 2022, only 49 graduates of the Philippines' Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP) were employed by the Philippine Government, emphasizing the urgent need to increase the number of practicing field epidemiologists to better equip the country for public health emergencies.

Context: The FETP-Intermediate Course (IC) curriculum is based mainly on the module of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was incorporated into the Philippine context. It consists of five 1-2-week lecture series that provide participants with the knowledge and tools necessary to conduct job-relevant field projects.

School outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease in Balungao, Pangasinan Province, Philippines, October 2022.

Objective: On 24 September 2022, the Regional Public Health Unit in Ilocos received a report of a cluster of suspected hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in one school in Balungao, Pangasinan Province, the Philippines. On 4 October 2022, the public health unit sent a team from the Field Epidemiology Training Program - Intermediate Course to conduct an outbreak investigation.

Methods: Active case-finding was conducted at the school.