Sunday, June 21, 2009

2 MMDA employees among RP’s latest A(H1N1) cases

06/20/2009 | 12:21 AM

MANILA, Philippines – Two employees of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) tested positive for the Influenza A(H1N1) virus, a television report said on Friday.

GMA News’ Raffy Tima reported over “24 Oras” that the two employees were among the 14 MMDA personnel that underwent medical examination after showing flu-like symptoms last Tuesday.

One of confirmed cases- unaware that he has contracted the disease- still reported to work on Friday morning. He, however, was sent home immediately.

MMDA General Manager Robert Nacianceno said they reported the incident to MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando. He added that possible A(H1N1) cases should be cautious to avoid further spread of the virus.

"Ni-report nga kay Chairman Bayani. Sabi ko bakit pumasok yung tao? They [possible cases] should no do that because in this case nga uninom ng antibiotics [at] nawala yung lagnat only to find out na meron siyang A(H1N1),” Nacianceno said.

[I reported the incident to the chairman and asked him why the person reported to work. They (possible cases) should not do that.]

A s in all the other cases, the infected MMDA employees were not identified in the report. But Tima said they were part of the MMDA parking management group.

Nacianceno said they are still investigating how their men contracted the disease.

As part of its preventive measures, the MMDA headquarters closed its clinic where the infected patients underwent medical examination.

Nacianceno also said that the agency would take all measures to prevent the inadvertent spread of the virus among their employees.

As of Friday, the country’s total confirmed A(H1N1) cases remained at 344. In a phone interview, Health Secretary Francisco Duque did not confirm if the two MMDA employees were part of the said figure.

Meanwhile, the DOH said that 262 of the 344 patients had already recovered and had been discharged.

Globally, there are now 39,620 A(H1N1) cases with 167 deaths from 88 reporting countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). - Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV

From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.

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