DN

Update No. 36 - Duque Said DOH Starts Mitigation Activities with WHO Expert Advice










Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III today reported 8 more confirmed cases of A (H1N1) over the last 24 hours, 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 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.

source: http://www.doh.gov.ph