Update No. 37 - Duque To Schools: Continue Reporting Any Unusual Rise in Students With Flu
While 23 Previously Confirmed Mild Cases Now Discharged
10 June 2009Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III today urged school authorities across the country to continue reporting to their respective local government executives any unusual occurrence of flu-like symptoms among their students especially those who travelled last summer to 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.
Duque made this call as he reported today 23 more confirmed mild A (H1N1) cases that are related to the cluster of schools that have already voluntarily suspended their classes due to the novel virus. These schools include De La Salle University Taft, East Asia College, De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, St. Andrews School Parañaque, and Ateneo de Manila High School. The new cases bring the total to 77 mild A (H1N1) confirmed cases. Twenty-three of these 77 mild cases have been discharged.
Duque said that the increase in cases was due to the relentless contact tracing done by the DOH in the five affected schools. Duque also said that the 23 new confirmed mild cases are responding well to treatments.
Duque stressed that there is still no community spread yet as the new cases were all traced to one case that earlier caught the virus during a travel to an A (H1N1) affected country.
The 23 new confirmed cases include 19 Filipinos and 4 foreigners. There are 18 males and 5 females with an age range of 8-49 years old. Seven of the new confirmed cases have a history of travel. The said cases travelled to the US and Japan.
Since May 1, 2009, the DOH has monitored a total of 667 Cases Under Observation (CUOs). Of these, 77 were positive A (H1N1) cases, 85 have pending laboratory results, and 505 were negative and have been discarded. There were 68 new CUOs today.
In their latest report dated June 8, the World Health Organization has reported 25,288 cases and 139 deaths from 73 reporting countries.
“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 countries”, Duque said.
The eight new confirmed cases include seven Filipinos and one foreigner. Four are males and 4 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 8 new confirmed cases had a history of travel. The said cases travelled to the US.
Duque said that all new cases are responding positively to the treatment.
Duque also disclosed that he met with World Health Organization (WHO) Technical Adviser Dr. Hiroshi Oshitani and discussed plans and recommendation 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)”, Duque added.
Meanwhile, Duque recommended the isolation of a suspected case, to let them stay home if they are sick. Duque also advised offices to immediately notify the DOH regarding these cases.
“We repeat that there is no need to wear masks, quarantine entire rooms or floors and suspend business activities. I reiterate, however, that all businesses should have a contingency plan to ensure the continuity of their operations,” Duque said.
Duque stressed that only those who qualify as CUOs including close contacts of confirmed cases are tested and given free treatment in designated DOH referral hospitals.
Duque enumerates that the following high risk individuals will be given treatment priority: 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 CUOs. 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 (CUOs) today.
In their latest report dated June 8, the WHO reported 25,288 cases and 139 deaths from 73 reporting countries. The case fatality rate is .55%. Cayman’s Islands, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago and United Arab Emirates are the newest countries with confirmed A (H1N1) cases.
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