Image via Wikipedia06/23/2009 | 10:14 PM
MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Health on Tuesday declared a low-level outbreak of the A(H1N1) virus in several portions in Metro Manila, where majority of the 473 confirmed cases are located.
But Health Secretary Francisco Duque III was quick to clarify that the classification was limited only to areas with schools that have confirmed A(H1N1) cases, particularly those that have third-level transmission.
“In Manila, we have a low-level community outbreak. Our low-level community transmission is not for the entire Metro Manila. Our [declaration for that] is area specific, school specific," Duque said in a press conference.
A community outbreak happens when, for example, someone who was infected with flu outside the Philippines arrives in Manila and starts infecting inhabitants of that city.
Duque said schools with low-level transmission are located in the cities of Manila, Quezon, and Parañaque. He said the method for the said areas had been shifted to mitigation from containment.
Mitigation strategy refers to aggressive treatment of cases as they come, especially for patients with high-risk pre-existing conditions.
Duque said containment method would be applied only to areas with few confirmed cases.
The DOH declaration came a day after the agency reported the country’s first A(H1N1)-related death. But Duque stressed that the 49-year-old victim, a staff at the House of Representatives, died because of heart failure.
As of Tuesday, the country’s confirmed A(H1N1) rose to 473 after 28 more people were tested positive for the new strain. Of the number, 400 had fully recovered and had been discharged.
Duque said the public still has no reason to panic since the virus that is spreading so far is mild in nature and that it has affected a small portion of the country’s total population.
"The number of persons affected is also very small compared to the total population. Of course we do not discount the fact that our rate of detection may not be as fast as the rate of spread of the infection," he said. - GMANews.TV
From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.
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