The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday reported two more deaths from Influenza A(H1N1), bringing to three the total number of Filipinos who have died from the virus.
Dr. Yolanda Oliveros, director of the DOH’s National Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said the fatalities were a 74-year-old man and a 19-year-old man who had asthma. The two patients died last week.
Oliveros told The STAR that the older man had underlying illnesses like chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, emphyzema, hypertension, cardio-vascular disease and tuberculosis.
“He was multiple high-risk... That is why in our mitigation strategy, we primarily focus on the severe cases and those with underlying conditions,” she added.
The country’s first death from A(H1N1) was a 49-year-old mother who was working at the House of Representatives.
Based on autopsy, the old man died from “congestive heart failure secondary to acute myocardial infraction aggravated by severe pneumonia either bacterial, viral or both.”
It turned out that the septuagenarian also had tuberculosis, enlarged liver, kidney and spleen, tumor in the uterus and tyromegaly or goiter.
Records of DOH’s Hotline for H1N1 showed that as of last week, there were 2,668 confirmed cases but 2,543 of these have already recovered.
On the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO), the DOH had shifted its anti-A (H1N1) program from containment to mitigation after establishing that the virus is “mild in nature.”
And while the virus is easily spread through air droplets or respiratory discharges, most infected patients have recovered even before they started taking medication.
But Oliveros warned that while A(H1N1) is mild, the public should not let their guard down.
She reiterated the DOH’s call for the strict observance of personal hygiene, particularly the covering of mouth when sneezing and coughing and constant washing of the hands, as the virus can survive on wet or moist surfaces for up to six hours.
Under the mitigation strategy, the DOH had done away with contact tracing and the mandatory 10-day quarantine.
Interim guidelines of the DOH showed that anti-viral treatment with Oseltamivir is “only for confirmed cases with severe progressive illness or concurrent medical condition that compromise their immune system.”
“Those with stable clinical manifestations or those identified when they were in the recovery state of the illnesses... are for home care,” the guidelines stated.
Laboratory diagnosis or throat swab sampling is done as part of the investigation of first suspected cases in a specific area or community and of a person with influenza-like illnesses (ILI) who are at risk of developing complications because of existing medical conditions.
The guidelines showed that swab testing could also be done randomly in clusters “with ILI manifesting with unusual symptoms or severity.”
OFW from Tarlac
Meanwhile, the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong yesterday reported that a 37-year-old female Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) from Tarlac is currently confined at the United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong, Kowloon, in what Hong Kong health authorities described as a “serious case of human swine influenza.”
The Consulate urged Filipinos working in or intending to travel to Hong Kong to exercise the highest vigilance against the A(H1N1) flu.
The Consulate said in a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that the Filipina, who arrived in Hong Kong on June 28, was reported to have flu-like symptoms on June 29 and was admitted to the hospital on July 7, initially diagnosed with “severe pneumonia”.
On July 11, the Consulate was informed by the attending doctor that a “molecular” test had confirmed her to be an A(H1N1) case.
The Health Emergency Management Staff (HEMS) of the Department of Health (DOH), which runs the DOH 24-hour A(H1N1) hotline, was immediately contacted by the Consulate to brief them about the case and provide appropriate medical bulletin to the patient’s family and other close contacts in the Philippines.
The Consulate continues to be in constant touch with the patient’s family members and friends in Hong Kong and advised those who came in contact with the OFW to consult a doctor as a precautionary measure.
The Consulate has also talked to the patient’s husband in the Philippines and assured him of the government’s support.
He was also informed that he and other family members and relatives in the Philippines should immediately consult a doctor to check if they were infected. With Pia Lee-Brago
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