Image via WikipediaMARK D. MERUEÑAS, GMANews.TV
06/10/2009 | 03:00 PM
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday said all schools nationwide should conduct a review of the travel history of students who have traveled abroad, but the University of the Philippines (UP) said that seemed difficult to do.
Under Interim Guidelines No. 12, the DOH advises schools under Response Level 2, or those with no confirmed A(H1N1) cases in their turf, to conduct "Influenza Like Illness (ILI) surveillance" and monitor the condition of absentees.
In a radio interview, Dr. Eric Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Center, stressed that these guidelines under Response Level 2 already included a travel history check of students and personnel who had arrived from abroad.
Under Response Level 2, schools should find out who among their students had just come from abroad, so they can advise them not to report to class until they complete their quarantine, he said in an interview on dzXL radio.
In an interview with GMANews.TV, Dr. Yolanda Oliveros, director of the National Center for Disease and Prevention Control, said currently, only five schools are so far under Response Level 3. Schools under this level have confirmed flu cases and are asked to suspend classes.
The schools that have so far confirmed cases of swine flu infections are the De La Salle University, the Ateneo de Manila University, the Far Eastern University-East Asia College, College of St. Benilde, and St. Andrew's School in Parañaque City.
Oliveros said apart from these five schools, all other schools – both private and public in all levels – are automatically classified under a Response Level 2 alert.
The Ateneo management had already required students logging on to its official school online network to reveal their travel information.
Elizabeth Enriquez, UP Diliman vice chancellor, said the state university has long been reviewing the travel histories of some its students, faculty and personnel.
"We are already doing it but only in cases of students who are displaying symptoms," said Enriquez, adding that students or school personnel who complain about fever are asked to proceed to the school infirmary for check-up.
Enriquez said the UP Diliman is not keen on reviewing the travel history of every student at this point because "that would be difficult" considering that registration had already been finished and the campus has 23,000 students.
Moreover, she said, there are also many in the faculty who go out of the country on official business.
Enriquez told GMANews.TV over the phone that they are currently investigating a number of flu cases but none has yet been confirmed to be infected by the A(H1N1) virus.
Don't discriminate
Tayag said the monitoring policy should not take into account whether the student concerned is a Filipino or a foreign national.
"We do not discriminate if the student is a foreigner or a Filipino. So long as he or she came from abroad, the person must be subjected to quarantine for 10 days," he said in Filipino.
He also stressed that those who undergo self-quarantine must stay at home so they can observe their health.
On Tuesday, Ateneo de Manila University said three of its high school students tested positive for A(H1N1), prompting the school to suspend classes for 10 days.
Tayag said the three new cases will be officially added to the Health Department's list, increasing to 57 the number of confirmed A(H1N1) cases.
No briefing
As the number of flu cases continued to rise, the Department of Health said Wednesday it will decrease the number of press briefings on the A(H1N1) situation so as not to cause unnecessary panic.
Radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported that DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said they will give updates only twice a week, as daily updates may have caused panic among the public.
Earlier, Duque said they are shifting strategies to consider A(H1N1) as an "ordinary" disease where people experiencing symptoms simply seek treatment. - GMANews.TV
From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.
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