Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The Department of Health (DOH) recorded six cases of firework-related injuries in the week leading up to Christmas.
All six cases involved children and teenagers, according to reports from DOH sentinel hospitals.
Five injuries were caused by fireworks, and the last involved ingestion. Another common firework-related injury can be caused by stray bullets, but there are no reports of such cases so far.
The government, through its Aksyon: Paputok Injury Reduction (APIR) campaign, has been working to reduce the number of firework-related injuries every year.
APIR began its surveillance reports on Wednesday, when it reported the first injuries for the holiday season: a six-year-old female from Ilocos Norte with a right eye blast injury from boga, an improvised canon; a nine-year-old female from Manila with lacerations due to piccolo; and a 10-year-old male from Pasay who had a blast and burn injury from luces.
This Thursday, it added three more to the list, including a 15-year-old male from Iloilo who sustained a blast injury in both eyes from boga and a 14-year-old from Manila who got lacerations from piccolo.
Boga and piccolo are illegal fireworks.
The third case, a six-year-old in Cainta, Rizal who accidentally placed luces in between his teeth, has been reported “normal at the time of examination.”
Last year, the number of injuries reached 145, around 80 percent of whom were children.
In 2014, there were 249 injuries and in 2013, a total of 293.
This is a developing story. Refresh this page for updates.
