15 co-passengers show no flu signs
By Dona Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:35:00 05/24/2009
Filed Under: Swine Flu, Epidemic and Plague, Diseases
MANILA, Philippines—The 15 co-passengers of the 10-year old girl found positive for the Influenza A(H1N1) virus have been located and were found to have no swine flu symptoms.
Health Undersecretary Mario Villaverde said they have contacted 15 of the 17 co-passengers who sat nearest the girl who had come from the United States with her parents.
“Fortunately, of the 15 nobody manifested (flu) symptoms,” Villaverde said.
He said they were still contacting the two remaining co-passengers through the regional offices of the Department of Health.
The DOH has advised all the girl’s co-passengers, her immediate family and household members to observe “self-quarantine,” meaning they should stay home for 10 days upon arrival (May 19), and to immediately report to the DOH if they develop fever and other flu symptoms during the period.
The 10-year old girl who had traveled to the US and Canada and who arrived with her parents last May 18 was the first confirmed case of swine flu in the Philippines.
The girl was reported to have recovered from fever and cough, and only has sore throat. She was given the antiflu viral drug Oseltamivir on May 21, when her throat specimen tested positive for the deadly virus.
“She is already recovering. She only has slight sore throat,” Villaverde said in an interview. He said the girl appeared to have acquired only a “mild influenza.”
In Tacloban City, a Canadian tourist was declared negative of the deadly virus.
Dr. Alberto de Leon, chief of hospital of the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC), said the test done on the 20-year old Canadian showed he was just suffering from ordinary flu.
“He was negative of the A(H1N1) virus based on the laboratory test conducted by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine,” De Leon said on Saturday.
The Canadian arrived in the city last May 3 from Canada. He developed fever and cough, among the symptoms of A (H1N1) virus, three days later.
Canada, where the patient came from, is among the countries in the world with confirmed A(H1N1) cases.
The DOJ on Saturday said it was looking into a report that a 28-year old Taiwanese woman and her five-year old daughter contracted the Influenza A(H1N1) virus during a trip to the Philippines to attend a yoga workshop.
“The Philippine Department of Health has started investigating the matter. We are coordinating with the Taiwanese authorities and trying to contact the organizers to be able to trace all the attendees of the event,” said a statement read by Villaverde. With reports from Joey A. Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas and AFP
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