ABS-CBN NEWS:
MANILA - The Department of Health (DOH) said Monday that the Philippines now has a total of 193 cases of influenza A (H1N1) while at the same time announcing that 33 more patients who were infected have been sent home after fully recovering.
In a statement, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that the number of cases included 46 confirmed cases of mild A (H1N1) flu from the weekend.
The 46 new confirmed cases, the statement said, involved 27 females and 19 males between 9 and 47 years old, all Filipinos.
In Jaen, Nueva Ecija, where the first community-level outbreak was first declared in one of the town’s barangays, Duque said that eight out of 19 individuals tested for the virus came out positive, and Duque said that the figures were all "community cases." An earlier ABS-CBN News report said that 11 cases have been confirmed in the Jaen barangay. An updated report Monday afternoon said twenty cases have already been confirmed in Barangay Hilera of Jaen.
Health officials in Central Luzon said that the confirmed cases are all mild in nature and are all responding well to their treatments, the DOH said.
“It’s an outbreak of mild A (H1N1) cases,” Duque said.
Fully-recovered cases
Meanwhile, the country has already 71 fully recovered cases, including the 33 more sent home, as of Monday.
Duque also reiterated in the statement that not only school authorities but barangay leaders and heads of offices, as well, across the country should continue reporting to their respective local government executives any unusual occurrence of flu-like symptoms among their students, constituents and employees, respectively, especially those who travelled last summer from countries affected with the A (H1N1).
”This effort is part of the readiness of the Department of Health (DOH) to shift from containment to mitigation”, Duque said.
N. Ecija outbreak
Meanwhile, in Jaen, health officials are conducting house-to-house checks in several villages after the outbreak declaration by the DOH.
Nueva Ecija Vice-Gov. Tomas Edward Joson said municipal health officers are interviewing residents in Barangay Hilera and other nearby barangays to curb the possible spread of A (H1N1) after 10 students of Hilera Elementary School and a four-year-old child tested positive for the virus.
"In Barangay Hilera and other nearby barangays, the Department of Heatlh is going house-to-house to check up all members of the family for possible flu-like symptoms. Some of them may be afraid to let other people know if they aren't feeling well so it is up to DOH to check them," Joson told radio dzMM.
The vice-governor said officials have yet to find out how the virus reached Barangay Hilera, which is a small village of about 1,600 residents.
He said at least two possible sources of infection have been identified: a six-year-old boy who visited Bulacan recently, and a medical mission that visited Barangay Hilera last month.
Joson said that he turned down a proposal to quarantine Barangay Hilera. He also pointed out that the 11 confirmed cases of A (H1N1) in Jaen are almost all healed but are still under observation.
With reports from Zyann Ambrosio, ABS-CBN News
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