WHO Declares Influenza A H1N1 Pandemic
WHO (World Health Organization) has declared Pandemic Level 6 – the highest pandemic level ever to be declared and the first pandemic to be declared in 41 years, after the ravage of Hong Kong Flu which killed 1 million people.
The Philippines has the highest number of Influenza A H1N1 – as of recent count are 92 cases and DOH is on the scramble for their contact tracing. In most of the cases, individuals who came from trips abroad have shown signs of flu and further confirmation from RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine) revealed the cases as Influenza A H1N1.
There are also complaints about hospitals rejecting H1N1 suspect cases – out of the fear that the infection will spread in their premises.
WHO noted that the current strain of Influenza A H1N1 is a mutant but mild variation – a combination of swine, avian and human flu virus in the genetic makeup. WHO and DOH advised that this strain of flu – (earlier called as swine flu) is not passed from pigs to humans. Therefore, eating pork and its by- products will not transmit H1N1 to humans. Also, the virus is a novel one – which means that there is no immunity to it. Drug researchers are in a fast pace to develop a vaccine against the virus before the virus will mutate into another strain.
DOH has been aggressive in their promoting the ways of preventing the infection of H1N1 – primarily through hand washing and being discrete when sneezing or coughing in public. It is also advised to do social distancing to help prevent the further spread of the virus.
One strange case happened in Jaen, Nueva Ecija where a student from an elementary school have shown signs of flu. The student did not make any trips abroad and about a third of the school population have also showed signs. DOH gathered samples from 10 students from the mentioned school and is now awaiting results.
As of today, the current number of H1N1 cases: 27,737 number of infected cases across 73 countries with 141 recorded deaths.
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silver is the blogger behind Dare to Speak Out, a personal and commentary blog.She graduated with a degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She posts blogs that ranges in different topics – from trivial to the political. She currently works as a freelance writer.
ha-hatc-WHO-ooo!!
For one thing, “pandemic” is only a technical term that indicates the geographical spread of a disease.
Despite its scary connotations, the word is no indication as to how contagious or lethal the disease is.
Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090611/hl_afp/healthflupandemic
Depende sa strain ng virus, kung talagang deadly or what.
totoo nga yung mga hostipal ay nirereject ang patient nila at pinapapunta daw sa DOH. Hirit ko, hindi ba sila handa for treatment? hindi na sila naawa.
Oo dencios..
parang TANGA ang mga hospitals na yan. Sarap batukan. Di na tiningnan ang buhay ng tao.
minsan overdrive sila. A common flu kills more than the H1N1.
Hindi lang overdrive ms. Cath. Ang bagal pa nilang umaksyon. Hhehe.
In fairness, i am giving credit to the DOH on how they closely monitor this public health concern to the point of even admitting that resources are unevenly dispersed now to mitigate the problem. As a matter of fact, i’ve watched the Secretary admonished the public to be more alarmed of the rising dengue cases in the country…The overdrive i think stems from the global clout of WHO, who like a giant watchdog could make everyone scared of everytime it opens its mouth…
I do believe in the credibility of WHO in the area of public health. But just like any international organization, much more, one that is dependent on “state donations,” it also vies from time to time for international attention because it works alongside other influential international organizations…
to the medically inclined here:
is it useful to buy a surgical mask when flying to the philippines?
does that matter?
pareng silver, minsan na ooA-yan na nga ako dito sa mga chikwa sa sobrang tutok na ginagawa nila sa h1n1, my mga nagkalat na hotlines at kahit sa mga ordinaryong hosp pag nakitaan ka nila ng sign ng h1n1 dika na paaalisin para obserbahan at take note libre walang bayad ang lahat ng test pagdating sa h1n1 at sa lahat ng mga hosp kahit saan dito my mga nakabukod na rooms o nakahiwalay ng buildings para sa mga ganitong cases.