Update No 34 - Duque: No Community-Level A (H1N1) Outbreak Even As New Confirmed Cases Are Reported
05 June 2009
Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III today reported four more positive cases of Influenza A (H1N1) in the country bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 33.
One of the 4 new confirmed cases is another student of the De La Salle University (DLSU), a 17 year-old male, who has no history of travel. He manifested mild acute febrile respiratory symptoms on June 2 and consulted a doctor on June 3 heeding the DLSU officials’ advice to its students when it suspended all its classes in Taft. He is presently confined in a health facility and recovering well.
“The three DLSU cases are responding well to their treatments and do not even have fever anymore, including the latest case. Contact tracing though is still in progress,” Duque said.
Duque reiterated that DLSU is the only school that is on a voluntary ten-day suspension due to A (H1N1) at the moment. No other school has approached the Department of Health (DOH) with the same predicament and plan. We also have not confirmed any case involving other schools.
The three other cases all have a history of travel. They all came from the United States. One of them is a foreign national. She is a 29 year-old female, who arrived on June 1 and developed fever and cough shortly thereafter. The remaining two are siblings, a 9 and a 7 year-old, both females, who arrived in the country on June 3. They became ill on June 1 and were screened on arrival and were subsequently brought to a health facility by the Bureau of Quarantine. All three are recovering from their illness in health facilities.
Meanwhile, Duque assured the public that the DOH is closely coordinating with the Asian Development Bank with regard to its first positive case reported yesterday. The ADB has already issued its own guidelines to prevent the spread of A (H1N1) among its employees and has been updating the Department on the condition of the positive case. Twelve contacts have been traced who have mild respiratory symptoms and are now awaiting laboratory results.
“We stress that only those who will qualify as CUOs including close contacts of confirmed cases will be tested and will receive treatment for free,” Duque said.
Duque explained that with the heighted awareness of the public on the novel influenza virus, more people are getting anxious to get themselves tested. “Government needs to implement a clear protocol that prioritizes the treatment and management of A(H1N1) cases, particularly people at high risk,” Duque said.
At present DOH includes the following high risk individuals as priority: 1) Those who have flu-like symptoms and have recently travelled from affected countries; 2) Symptomatic individuals who were known close contacts of confirmed cases. As yet there is no community-level outbreak of A(H1N1) as the DOH and local government units are able to contain its spread.
“For the general public, especially now that we are entering the rainy season and we expect flu cases to increase, we advise them to stay at home, take supportive treatment and plenty of bed rest if they have mild symptoms. But if you have preexisting conditions like diabetes, asthma, COPD, heart disease and if you are pregnant or immunocompromised, also those at the extremes of age (i.e. <5>
Since May 1, 2009, the DOH has monitored a total of 450 CUOs. Of these, 33 are positive A(H1N1) cases, 76 have pending laboratory results, and 341 are negative for A(H1N1) and have been discarded. There are 36 new Cases Under Observation (CUOs) today.
In their latest report dated June 3, the World Health Organization reported 19,273 cases and 117 deaths from 66 reporting countries.
One of the six new confirmed cases is a 20 year-old male international graduate student of the De La Salle University, who is a contact of the first positive case at DLSU. This student also arrived in the country on May 12. On June 2, he manifested mild respiratory symptoms and consulted a health facility where he was tested for the presence of A (H1N1). RITM confirmed the test this morning and he is now confined in the health facility.
The other six cases are Filipinos who all have a history of travel to the US. Three belong to the same family: two females aged 12 and 16; and an 18-year old male. The other three include a 22 year-old male, a 33 year-old pregnant woman and a 52 year old-female. All of the six show only mild flu-like symptoms and are now being observed and managed in health facilities.
Duque reiterated that the 10-day suspension of classes is applicable only for the students, faculty and staff of DLSU Manila due to the confirmation of at least one A(H1N1) case. He reminded all other schools in the country to be on alert for possible cases of A (H1N1) particularly for students and staff who have a history of travel within the last 10 days in affected countries and who are showing flu-like symptoms.
In reaction to a possible Pandemic Level 6 declaration by the World Health Organization, Duque, Chair of the ASEAN + 3 Health Ministers Meeting on A (H1N1) held in Bangkok, Thailand last month, emphasized that this move should be made in the most careful and prudent approach voicing the joint view of the ASEAN + 3 countries for WHO to also consider the severity of the disease and not just the geographic range of the virus.
“We do not want a disproportionately destructive global scare from a virus that has thus far only shown mild symptoms in most of the cases that we are seeing in affected countries. We do not need at this at a time of great economic crisis and uncertainty. But at the same time, we should not also underestimate the potential of the virus to become more severe in the future,” Duque said.
In the country, Duque stressed that in all of the 29 confirmed cases, patients manifested only with mild symptoms reflecting the general trend and behavior of the virus in other affected countries.
“With further characterization of the virus in our local cases, if we see that A (H1N1) poses no severe threat and is self-limited in most cases, we may be seeing a shift in our control strategy to outpatient and home management of patients showing only mild symptoms. This is already being done in countries like Mexico and the US which already have sustained community transmission,” Duque said.
Meanwhile, as the world braces for the WHO’s possible announcement of Pandemic Level 6, Duque reminded other government agencies as well as the business and private sector to consider implementing their business contingency plans.
In 2006, DOH already convened the heads of major business groups and members of the private sector to help them craft their own business contingency plans during the height of the Avian Flu scare. This Plan will ensure that commercial activities and essential government and non- government services will continue even during a pandemic.
Since May 1, 2009, the DOH has monitored a total of 414 CUOs. Of these, 29 are positive A(H1N1) cases, 47 have pending laboratory results, and 338 are negative for A(H1N1) and have been discarded. There are 13 new Cases Under Observation (CUOs) today.
In their latest report, the World Health Organization reported 1,863 new cases and 2 new deaths. There are now a total of 19,273 cases and 117 deaths from 66 reporting countries. Bulgaria, Egypt, Lebanon and Nicaragua are the newest countries with confirmed A (H1N1) cases.
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