With COVID-19 overwhelmingly causing immense distress, the spread of other contagious diseases like dengue that continues to burden the country shouldn’t be left unconsidered, best not forgotten.
This is not a choose-your-poison kind of situation as there are diagnostic tests today that can determine the disease’ presence in a person and its surge in communities.
Testing has proven to be an integral component in healthcare. The timing of the detection of a disease means life or death in certain situations.
Manila HealthTek Inc. (MTek), a private research and development company led by founder and CEO Dr. Raul Destura, manufactures and distributes the Dengue-ChikV RT-PCR Detection Kit and the Biotek-M Dengue Aqua Kit.
The Biotek-M Dengue Aqua Kit was conceptualized, designed, and piloted
by Filipino scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila.
Dr. Raul Destura states, “MTek provides testing not just for COVID-19 but also for prominent diseases in our country like dengue. We are very dedicated to our mission with every Filipino in mind. Thus, we made sure that the appropriate products we roll out are affordable.”
In the early stages of the pandemic last year when testing kits were scarce, MTek made headlines as it created locally made kits that detected the presence of the virus in the human body. Not only was it very timely, it was also priced at a very affordable rate.
During this period of severely heightened dread of catching COVID-19, Filipinos in most parts of the country are most wary of check-ups in health centers and hospitals.
It’s a very different picture in areas of tremendous COVID-19 surge such as the National Capital Region. Check-ups for other infectious diseases, and other kinds of ailments for that matter, are extremely disadvantaged because of the heavy load for the care of COVID patients.
Yet, the focus on dengue control cannot be neglected.The record of dengue outbreaks in the country has not simmered. Whereas before, cases tended to be present in certain seasons, recent record shows that dengue cases are being noted all year round.
Testing all the more becomes significant. Testing not just pinpoints areas of incidence and prevalence, it also enables health planners to determine the particular dengue virus variant that mosquitoes in certain locales carry.
MTek, displaying its noteworthy competence in developing high quality
and yet affordable diagnostic kits, bagged a gold medal at the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva, Switzerland in 2018 with its Biotek-M Dengue Aqua Kit.
At the moment, MTek’s testing kits are making their way to various parts of the country, bringing with them the hope of early treatment of those found with dengue. Alongside this is the opportunity for immediate community alert to prevent dreaded outbreaks.
For more information, visit manila-healthtek.com.
