I woke up early today with this startling news: the first case of swine flu was finally confirmed right here in the Philippines. The poor victim is a ten-year old Filipino girl who arrived from the US only last May 18.
Health Secretary Dr. Francisco Duque III confirmed this case yesterday night. The girl got all the symptoms – fever, cough and sore throat the day after her arrival. The identity and the location of the girl are highly kept secret.
Unfortunately, the symptoms of the swine flu are a lot similar to that of the ordinary flu. Therefore, there is no way of telling the difference except to make a visit to the local hospital and submit respiratory specimen within four to five days.
Since this is still a single case of the swine flu in the Philippines, local authorities say that there is still no outbreak of that A(H1N1) virus. That will still not be a reason to delay the start of the school year – which is on the first day of June.
Awareness on how to prevent the infection was one of the things I tried to look up today. I was able to get hold of some useful tips:
- Use a handkerchief or tissue to cover mouth when sneezing to avoid the spread of airborne infection.
- Sharing utensils and drinks is another fast way to spread this deadly virus. Avoid doing this one.
- Do proper hand washing with soap and water. Alcohol based sanitizers may help, but do take note that these sanitizers are said NOT TO BE VERY EFFECTIVE in killing swine flu bacteria.
- Avoid getting into large public gatherings, especially if cases of swine flu are reported and confirmed in the area.
- Wearing the basic respiratory mask may still be helpful than wearing no mask at all. But higher quality masks are more effective in preventing respiratory inspections.
- If you feel the symptoms of flu, don’t report to work. Better yet, consult qualified health department to check for possible swine flu infection.
Filipinos should now get ready for this and be aware of how to prevent getting infected. This will have to do for now, as there is no ready vaccine for this deadly swine flu in the Philippines virus yet.
My kid is one of the thousands of children who will be attending school this June. I just have to hope that this epidemic is contained well by the local authorities.
Health Organizations
Latest Philippines News Articles:
- ABS-CBN: First case of A(H1N1) in RP confirmed
- Inquirer.net: Duque confirms first A(H1N1) RP case
Understanding Swine Flu
- BaltimoreSun.com: Swine Flu: The Basics
- Bloomberg: Understanding Swine Flu’s World Spread: Questions and Answers
- CNN Health: How Countries are Preventing Swine Flu Outbreak
