The Department on Health on Tuesday confirmed eight more new cases of influenza A (H1N1), bringing the total number of the country’s cases to 54.
“We are expecting the number to increase because of the aggressive contact tracing that the Department of Health (DOH) is doing right now and our hospitals have been ready for this situation. These new cases are also like the previous ones that are mild in nature, very similar to the cases seen in other affected counties," Health Secretary Francisco Duque said in a statement.
The eight new confirmed cases include seven Filipinos and one foreigner. Four are males and four are females with an age range of 16-44 years old. Six of the cases are students of the De La Salle University, while one is the first confirmed case from the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde.
Two of the eight new confirmed cases had a history of travel. The said cases travelled to the US.
Duque said the eight infected are responding positively to treatment.
The health secretary said he met with World Health Organization (WHO) Technical Adviser Dr. Hiroshi Oshitani and discussed plans on how to go about the shift from containment to mitigation. “We also talked about the country’s surveillance capabilities, laboratory capacity, and other measures such as school closures and contact-tracing to mitigate the effects of A (H1N1)”, he added.
He said individuals suspected of contracting influenza A (H1N1) should remain isolated. He said that while there is no need to wear masks, quarantine entire rooms or floors and suspend business activities, all businesses should have a contingency plan to ensure the continuity of their operation.
He said people who have had close contact with confirmed cases of swine flu will be given free treatment in designated DOH referral hospitals.
High risk individuals who will be given treatment priority are 1) Those who have flu-like symptoms and have recently travelled from affected countries; and 2) Symptomatic individuals who were known close contacts of confirmed cases.
Since May 1, 2009, the DOH has monitored a total of 599 cases under observation. Of these, 54 were positive A (H1N1) cases, 148 have pending laboratory results, and 397 were negative for A(H1N1) and have been discarded. There are 58 new cases under observation, as of Tuesday.
In their latest report, the WHO reported 25,288 cases and 139 deaths from 73 reporting countries. Cayman’s Islands, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago and United Arab Emirates are the newest countries with confirmed A (H1N1) cases.
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