The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine yesterday confirmed three patients positive for influenza A(H1N1) in Western Visayas, two of them brothers who returned to Bacolod from the United States, DOH Regional Director Ariel Valencia said.

“Although the patients were found positive, they all exhibited mild symptoms of fever, cough and sore throat,” Valencia said.

The brothers aged 7 and 8 years old and now confined at a Bacolod hospital had come from the United States, Valencia said.

Those who came in close contact with the boys have been placed under close observation, he added.

The case from Iloilo City is a 38-year-old male seafarer who has history of travel from Germany with a stopover in Hong Kong.  He is now admitted at the Western Visayas Medical Center and is under medication, Valencia said.

“Close family contacts of the seafarer were advised admission or home quarantine,” he added.

Contact-tracing of other possible contacts of the patients is being conducted, he added.

The three cases bring to four the number of A (H1N1) positive cases in Western Visayas, Valencia said.

A 17-year-old who contacted the virus at De La Salle University in Manila has since been discharged from the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City.

The 17-year-old completed the treatment and has undergone a repeat swab, Valencia said. The patient showed no more signs and symptoms of A(H1N1), and will be released from home treatment after the results of the second swab proves negative, he added.

From May 18 to June 16, the DOH Center for Health Development-Western Visayas monitored 27 suspected cases of A (H1N1).  Of these, 15 had negative results, while nine have pending laboratory results and are still under close monitoring, Valencia said.

The mayors of Bacolod City and Iloilo City, as well as their respective City Health Officers, have been informed and were provided technical and logistical assistance in institution of appropriate measures to prevent community level spread of the infection, Valencia said.

He again assured that the DOH in Western Visayas is implementing appropriate measures to ensure that the infection will not spread in the region.

The public is advised to continuously observe hygienic practices such as proper hand washing and cough and sneezing etiquette, Valencia said.

It is also advised that persons who have flu-like symptoms and have recently traveled from affected countries should seek consultation at the nearest health facility for appropriate management, he added.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday reported 64 new mild cases of A(H1N1) in the country  for a total of 311.

Of the 64 new cases, 40 are male, while the rest  are female. The age range of these cases is from 1 to 62 years old with a median age of 18 years old. All but two of the 64 are Filipinos, Duque reported.

“So far the country has no reported case of death or severe illness in all of the 311 documented positive cases,” Duque stressed.

The World Health Organization Monday reported 35,928 A(H1N1) cases and 163 deaths from 76 reporting countries.*CPG

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