The Philippines on Sunday confirmed its second influenza A (H1N1) case.
In an interview on ANC's Dateline Philippines on Sunday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said the second H1N1 patient is a 50-year-old female from Chicago, United States. She arrived in the Philippines on May 20.
She had no symptoms upon arrival at the airport but became symptomatic the next day. She immediately consulted health authorities, according to the health secretary.
"She only has mild symptoms, which include fever and cough," he said.
Her health condition has improved and she is already "recovering," Duque assured.
The second H1N1 patient is still being closely monitored in an undisclosed health facility. The government is also now tracing those who had contacts with her.
"We cannot be too complacent because many factors can make a mild illness manifest severely and more fatally in people with pre-existing conditions," he said, adding:
"The only thing that's sure is that this virus is unpredictable."
Three days ago, the Philippines confirmed that a 10-year-old girl tested positive for the virus. The girl was the first confirmed H1N1 case in the Philippines.
The girl arrived in the country from the United States on May 18, reports said.
Duque said the Philippines' first H1N1 case is also recovering and that 15 out of the 17 passengers who sat next to the girl on the airplane have not developed flu symptoms.
"On the first confirmed case, the child is now almost fully recovered with only mild sore throat. She is completing her antiviral medication," he said.
Duque, who just arrived from a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting in Geneva, said that based on the new H1N1 infections all over the world, the new flu virus is turning out to be a "mild form...similar to ordinary flu."
He said the H1N1 cases now have a low fatality rate of less than 0.1 percent.
In WHO's latest tally, the strain has already infected more than 11,000 people in 42 countries and killed 86
No comments:
Post a Comment