Stop COVID Deaths Webinar #124 “BAGO NA NAMAN? XBB and BQ.1.1 Alamin!”

The University of the Philippines in partnership with
UP Manila NIH National Telehealth Center and in cooperation with
UP Philippine General Hospital
would like to invite you to join the Fight Against COVID-19!

Registration slots are limited to this SPECIAL EDITION of
the STOP C.O.V.I.D. DEATHS Webinar Series.
(Current COVID-19 problems; Other outbreaks; Viruses; Infections; Disasters)
So sign up NOW:
bit.ly/StopCOVIDDeathsWebinar124

Webinar #124
November 4, 2022 (Friday) 12nn
“BAGO NA NAMAN? XBB and BQ.1.1 Alamin!”

Presenters:
Dr. Franco Felizarta
Infectious Disease Specialist
UPMASA

Dr. Anna Lisa T. Ong-Lim
Member, DOH Technical Advisory Group
Pediatric Infectious Diseases

Synthesis and Closing Remarks:
Dr. Stella Marie L. Jose
Deputy Director for Health Operations
UP Philippine General Hospital

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Webinar #124
November 4, 2022 (Friday) 12nn
“BAGO NA NAMAN? XBB and BQ.1.1 Alamin!”

For months now, the Omicron variant has been the most dominant COVID-19 variant in the world with surges in cases on almost every continent. However, new variants have again cropped up — the XBB subvariant of Omicron is a recombinant of BJ.1 (of the BA.2.10.1 sublineage) and the BM.1.1.1 (of the BA.2.75 sublineage) while the BQ.1.1 is a descendant of the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron.

There are now a little over 4 million cases of COVID-19 cases recorded in the Philippines to date. Currently, the proportion of individuals testing positive for COVID-19, at least in Metro Manila and several provinces, have gone down to 10 percent while rates for Isabela, Benguet, Cebu, and Negros Occidental have gone up. As the holiday season approaches, it is expected that the number of cases in the country will likely rise and fall in the coming months as the Omicron subvariants may cause reinfections and breakthrough infections even among those who have previously contracted COVID-19 from Omicron or among those who have already received 2 doses of the primary vaccination series. These new Omicron subvariants, which have been associated with significant immune escape and antibody evasion, are now causes of concern. Hence, hospital admissions are being monitored, as well as cases in the ICU.

In this episode of STOP COVID DEATHS, we will have familiar speakers to discuss these Omicron subvariants: Dr. Franco Felizarta, infectious disease specialist based in California, USA, will provide the latest information and everything we need to know about the variant based on scientific studies while Dr. Anna Ong Lim, pediatric infectious diseases specialist from the Philippine General Hospital will provide additional information on what we can do to protect ourselves vis-a-vis the new policies that have been issued in recent weeks. The Synthesis and Closing Remarks will be delivered by Dr. Stella Marie L. Jose, Deputy Director for Health Operations of UP Philippine General Hospital.

Join us as we tackle this new topic on Friday, November 4th, because the pandemic is not yet over. See you online! Together, we can STOP C.O.V.I.D. DEATHS!