“Our very own researchers and experts are capable of producing world-class innovations and solutions,” Department of Science and Technology Undersecretary for Research and Development Rowena Cristina Guevara said in her closing remarks during the online Talakayang HeaRT Beat press conference held last May 17, 2021 via Zoom. 

Now on its 5th installment, Usec. Guevara highlights that the event was organized for the media to have “a platform of conversation with scientists, researchers and experts in health.”

From left to right, starting from the top row: DOST Secretary Fortunato T. dela Pena, Dr. Fresthel Monica Climacosa, DOST Usec. Rowena Cristina Guevara, Dr. Cynthia Palmes-Saloma, Dr. Fabian Dayrit, Mr. Arcelio Fetizanan Jr., Dr. Benedit Maralit, Dr. Raul Destura, DOST-PCHRD Executive Director Dr. Jaime C. Montoya, DOST-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) Director Dr. Imelda Angeles-Agdeppa

DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña provided updates on some COVID-19 projects for diagnostics, public health surveillance and therapeutics supported by the DOST - Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD):

• GenAmplify™ CoronaVirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) rRT-PCR Detection Kit 

• Development of Swab Testing Stations

• Biosurveillance of COVID-19 in the Philippines through Whole Genome Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 from Patients

• In vitro Study on the Efficacy of Lauric Acid and Derivatives against SARS-CoV-2

• The Effects of Virgin Coconut Oil among Suspect and Probable Cases of COVID-19

In recognition of the significant achievement of the projects, Sec. de la Pena also highlighted the efforts and contributions of Filipino researchers to the country’s pandemic response: “Allow me to express my gratitude to our Filipino researchers who are tirelessly working in the frontlines to help us fight this pandemic. We, at the DOST, are committed to support you in using your expertise to serve our Filipino people through scientific research,” he said.

“These are only examples of our initiatives, and we still have more in the pipeline,” Usec. Guevara emphasized. “But what these show us, is that our very own researchers and experts are capable of producing world-class innovations and solutions. We, at the DOST, believe in that capacity, and we commit to continue working for an enabling environment for research and development,” she said. (Written by: JG Macan, PCHRD)

Source: https://www.pchrd.dost.gov.ph/news/6675-filipino-researchers-are-capable-of-world-class-innovations-dost 

Student outputs rise to a record-high 33 health research publications amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and continue to climb with 22 articles published within the first four months of 2021, the MD-PhD in Molecular Medicine Program reports.

“From the initial student publications in 2014, the number of research articles published with a UP College of Medicine-affiliated MD-PhD trainee or alumni reached 100 this year. This is a program milestone,” reported MD-PhD Program Coordinator Dr. Leslie Michelle Dalmacio and MD-PhD scholar Dr. Raniv Rojo.

Aiming to train research-oriented aspiring physicians and increase the pool of experts in biomedical research, the MD-PhD in Molecular Medicine Scholarship Program is the first and only dual degree program offered in the Philippines. It is a joint initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Science Education Institute (SEI) through the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), and the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine.

The student outputs from the research courses are presented in various local and international science forums for dissemination and vetting as part of the program's mentoring, with more substantial outputs being published. 

“The DOST-PCHRD is very proud of our MD-PhD scholars for reaching this milestone at a time where the country is battling with a pandemic. This is proof that investing in education has a transformative power in boosting research and innovation for societal development,” says PCHRD Executive Director Jaime Montoya.

The PCHRD acknowledges the productivity of the MD-PhD students as shown below:

Source: https://www.pchrd.dost.gov.ph/news/6672-md-phd-student-publications-hit-record-peak-amid-covid-19-pandemic 

An NRCP medical expert said Tuesday that there is a greater risk of dying from COVID-19 if not vaccinated than getting the feared adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccine when inoculated, and urged the public to get the vaccine that is offered to them now.

Photo Source: Kaiser Health News

Dr. Leslie Michelle M. Dalmacio, Chair, National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) Division of Medical Sciences, said this due to the results of the NRCP study showing a high number of respondents (269) expressing negative attitudes like distrust, concern about side effects, safety issues, and hesitation towards COVID-19 vaccine. With these negative perceptions, only 25% intends to have themselves vaccinated while the 75% have no intention at all.

Dalmacio said that the vaccine efficacy will protect and prevent risk of severe forms of COVID-19. Regardless of brand, she assures that the vaccines are safe and effective because they passed various clinical trials and also the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She added to have confidence and trust to accept the available vaccines.

Dr. Leslie Michelle M. Dalmacio, Chair, National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) Division of Medical Sciences, urges the public to get vaccinated, during the NRCP 8^th Kapakanan ng Tao sa Oras ng Pandemya (KTOP-COVID), on May 11, 2021 via Zoom.

NRCP study reveals what Filipino adults think about COVID-19 vaccine

The webinar, 8^th Kapakanan ng Tao sa Oras ng Pandemya (KTOP-COVID), of the Department of Science and Technology-NRCP, featured the project results of Prof. Ernesto R. Gregorio, Jr., NRCP member, Division of Medical Sciences, on Knowledge, Attitudes, Risk Perceptions, and Intention towards COVID-19 Vaccination in the City of Manila (Preliminary Analysis of data from the General Population) with 376 (295 – Female, 81 – Male) respondents.

In his study, Gregorio revealed that the main reasons of the general population for not intending to receive vaccination were due to fear of side effects/suspicious/distrusts of vaccine and does not have enough information about the vaccine.

He also shared that news in mainstream media remains to be the most popular and trusted source of information on COVID-19. It appeared that the overall knowledge on COVID-19 is good, but the perceived level of knowledge on COVID-19 vaccine is low. This is why Prof. Gregorio seeks the help of the media in promoting and hyping the positive effects and reliable information about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Some of the participants with the speakers and NRCP officials during the 8^th KTOP-COVID webinar.

NRCP Recommendations to address the negative perceptions towards COVID-19 vaccine

Given the results of the study, the NRCP strongly recommends enhancing health communication campaigns to improve the knowledge and attitude of the general population through the use of interpersonal communication strategies or feedback. Likewise, it seeks to enhance the media advocacy and responsible reporting of the safety and efficacy, benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine.

It was also recommended to design the health communication campaigns that will highlight the following messages: (1) efficacy and safety of approved vaccines; (2) healthy people and those with co-morbidities also need to be vaccinated; and (3) benefits of the vaccination in returning to “normal” in general and family’s health in particular. The role modeling of vaccination by national, local leaders and health workers can help in further improving vaccination campaigns, as well as the positive role of the Catholic Church.

In addition to these, the need to further improve the preference for health workers as a credible source of correct information, as well as the need to capacitate the Barangay Health Workers as COVID-19 frontliners to improve the perception of their roles and trustworthiness.

Prof. Ernesto R. Gregorio, Jr., NRCP member, Division of Medical Sciences, presents the recommendations from his study on Knowledge, Attitudes, Risk Perceptions, and Intention towards COVID-19 Vaccination in the City of Manila (Preliminary Analysis of data from the General Population) during the NRCP 8^th KTO-COVID webinar on May 11, 2021.

Gregorio also suggested to have follow-up studies on actual vaccine uptake, assessment of the vaccine role out and effects of health communication campaigns of the Department of Health, and assessment of the readiness of the supply side of the vaccine equation. Finally, for Scientist/researchers to be more prominent in the news and social media platforms and to communicate vaccine-related messages to a wider audience.

The results of the study will be soon accessible to the NRCP Research Journal.

Meanwhile, DOST Secretary Fortunato “Boy” T. de la Pena said that the solution for the COVID-19 pandemic is through herd immunity which can be achieved through vaccination. But, due to the negative perceptions towards the vaccine, people are hesitant to get vaccinated.

“People are more inclined to pass negative news instead of positive news”, said Secretary de la Pena.

NRCP Executive Director Dr. Marieta Banez Sumagaysay shared the same sentiments as she shared that the vaccine was a much-awaited solution, but when it comes available, there is yet another concern, ‘Will I get vaccinated?’.

Sec. Boy challenged NRCP to conduct a new research that focuses on computing the probability of dying when vaccinated and when not and probability of being severely infected when vaccinated and when not, and the like.

Prof. Fortunato “Boy” T. de la Pena, DOST Secretary and Dr. Marieta Banez Sumagaysay, NRCP Executive Director share their messages during the NRCP 8^th KTO-COVID webinar on May 11, 2021.

Sumagaysay asked the 378 (259 – Female, 119 – Male) participants to take part in helping deter the spread of inaccurate scientific news and design communication collaterals based on science considering behaviors and attitudes. During the open forum moderated by Dr. Romulo De Castro, Director, Center for Informatics, University of San Agustin, also NRCP Regular Member, Medical Sciences Division, the need for science journalism and risk communication were also emphasized.

Source:https://nrcp.dost.gov.ph/latest-news/728-greater-risk-of-dying-from-covid-19-than-getting-the-adverse-effect-of-vaccine-nrcp-medical-expert?fbclid=IwAR2UwYVhp0LeeZ1UV6_-e4dlVdaYymYTwLGfOroPb67gtfH5Rlx7MHVUZ4Y 

A new COVID-19 variant officially designated as Lineage “P.3” was detected in the Philippines on 10 March 2021 as reported by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC). The variant was found from local samples in Central Visayas, collected on the same dates where there was a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases recorded in the region.

What do we know so far?

• P.3 is designated as a variant under investigation (VUI) and not yet identified as a variant of concern (VOC) by the Department of Health (DOH), as the currently available data are not enough to conclude that it will have significant implications to public health. Public Health England has classified it as a VUI.

• To date, there are 104 total infections caused by the P.3 variant in the Philippines, of which the majority are detected in Central Visayas. Samples from the Philippines were collected in late January up to February 2, 2021, and the sequencing run was conducted on February 4, 2021 by the PGC.

• The results reported by PGC indicate that P.3 is found to bear multiple mutations of concern in the spike protein region. In simple terms, there were multiple changes detected in the spike region of the P.3 variant, the part of the virus responsible for attaching to human cells, which may possibly have “functional significance” as reported by PGC.

• These mutations, or changes detected in P.3. are identified as E484K, N501Y, and P681H. They have been previously associated with known COVID-19 variants linked to possible increased transmissibility and immune escape. There is still no proof, based on available data, that P.3 is more infectious than the original version of Sars-CoV-2, but the presence of these three mutations suggests that it is possible. 

• There are NO reports that the P.3 variant leads to worse symptoms of COVID-19.

What does it tell us?

• Although not classified as a VOC, PGC recommends strengthening measures to prevent the spread of P.3 to other regions in the Philippines and other countries due to the potential public health implications of these mutations.

• Regardless if we are situated in Metro Manila or in the provinces, we must not stop or even minimize practicing the minimum public health standards. With the recent announcement of Enhanced Community Quarantine in Metro Manila, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, and Bulacan, the DOH urges the public to stay at home unless extremely necessary and remember to avoid the three Cs (Closed spaces, Crowded places, and Close contact settings). 

What is DOST-PCHRD doing?

• DOST-PCHRD initiated the funding and support for the biosurveillance studies of PGC on COVID-19 in the Philippines through the ARCHER Program. This support started six months ago, in October 2020, to aid current government efforts to get a more comprehensive picture of the spread of the disease in the country. To date, the biosurveillance service of PGC is also being funded by the DOH.

• DOST-PCHRD supports PGC’s recommendation to strengthen measures to prevent the spread of the P.3 variant to other regions and countries. So far, four, two, and one of each P.3 virus sequences have been submitted by the UK, Australia, Germany and Japan, respectively, in the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) database which has now more than 700,000 SARS-CoV-2 submitted sequences.

• In the long term, the Council aims to aid the government in determining the dynamics of the spread of the disease throughout its course.

• This health research effort aims to provide our policymakers guidance in future planning with regard to epidemics in the country. Collected data from this project will be part of a baseline for the country for improving our health disaster responses in the future.

Variants, strains, and mutations simplified

Although connected in several ways, the terms variants, strains, and mutations do not mean the same thing. In simple terms,

• Even a virus commits errors in copying itself. When a virus makes copies of itself or duplicates inside our body, sometimes, there are letters in the genome that are not written correctly. As a result, there are copies that are not made exactly the same as the original version, and we call this mutation. Just like how mistakes are natural in people, mutations are also natural in viruses.

• As a result of its error of not perfectly copying itself, this mutation changes the new copy’s genome. Take note that several mutations may exist in a single copy, and when this happens, a new variant of the virus occurs. 

• A strain, on the other hand, simply refers to a subtype of a larger virus species but has different characteristics. For example, SARS-CoV-2 is a strain of the larger coronavirus family that causes respiratory infections, in the same way, that MERS-CoV is also a strain of coronavirus.

With the upcoming Holy Week, everyone is encouraged to avoid large congregations and practice religious activities at home. It is always recommended to maintain social distance, wear masks when going outside, and wash hands frequently.

Source: https://www.pchrd.dost.gov.ph/news/6658-what-you-should-know-about-the-p-3-variant-detected-in-ph