DOH-7 resorts to ?flu zoning?
By Ma. Bernadette A. Parco
Cebu Daily News First Posted 19:26:00 07/12/2009
A ?flu-zoning? policy will be implemented by the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) as part of changes in their monitoring and recording of swine flu cases, officials said yesterday.
Dr. Cora Lou Kintanar, Pandemic Influenza Incident Command spokesperson, said they have advised the Department of Education (DepEd) not to suspend classes. The DOH-7 will be monitoring the number of schools that have students with fever, she said.
?What we are looking at now are reports on people exhibiting influenza-like illness. We will not be referring to individual patients,? Dr. Kintanar added.
Following the example of the United States government, the health department will be reporting only affected areas.
?We have already started doing that also in the schools and workplaces, identifying areas where there are patients exhibiting influenza-like illness or ILI. It is like zoning or identifying affected areas,? she said.
The Influenza A(H1N1) virus, considered by medical authorities as a highly transmissible but mild form of virus, is transmitted by droplet transmission.
Health officials advised people to avoid crowded areas, practice frequent hand washing, observe respiratory hygiene and social distancing.
A vaccine is still being developed and may be available by September or October this year, said Kintanar.
As of July 11, Kintanar said there are 282 cases under observation in Central Visayas that were recorded since May 4 this year.
A total of 148 patients tested negative for the H1N1 virus and 91 have pending laboratory tests being done at the Armed Forces Research Institute for Medical Science ( AFRIMS ) in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.
By Ma. Bernadette A. Parco
Cebu Daily News First Posted 19:26:00 07/12/2009
A ?flu-zoning? policy will be implemented by the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) as part of changes in their monitoring and recording of swine flu cases, officials said yesterday.
Dr. Cora Lou Kintanar, Pandemic Influenza Incident Command spokesperson, said they have advised the Department of Education (DepEd) not to suspend classes. The DOH-7 will be monitoring the number of schools that have students with fever, she said.
?What we are looking at now are reports on people exhibiting influenza-like illness. We will not be referring to individual patients,? Dr. Kintanar added.
Following the example of the United States government, the health department will be reporting only affected areas.
?We have already started doing that also in the schools and workplaces, identifying areas where there are patients exhibiting influenza-like illness or ILI. It is like zoning or identifying affected areas,? she said.
The Influenza A(H1N1) virus, considered by medical authorities as a highly transmissible but mild form of virus, is transmitted by droplet transmission.
Health officials advised people to avoid crowded areas, practice frequent hand washing, observe respiratory hygiene and social distancing.
A vaccine is still being developed and may be available by September or October this year, said Kintanar.
As of July 11, Kintanar said there are 282 cases under observation in Central Visayas that were recorded since May 4 this year.
A total of 148 patients tested negative for the H1N1 virus and 91 have pending laboratory tests being done at the Armed Forces Research Institute for Medical Science ( AFRIMS ) in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.