10 new patients in RP being monitored for A(H1N1) flu

MANILA, Philippines - Ten new patients are being monitored for Influenza A(H1N1) infection, the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday. Eight of the patients are from the National Capital Region, one is from Region 1 or Ilocos Region, and the last is from Region 7 or Central Visayas, said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III during a press conference. He said the DOH has so far monitored 113 individuals, two of whom - a 10-year-old girl who traveled to the US and Canada and a 50-year-old woman from Chicago were tested positive for the dreaded virus. Duque said the girl and the woman who contracted the disease "are both well" and no longer have flu-like symptoms. The two are continuously being monitored and "could be discharged once they are tested negative for the virus," according to the secretary. The girl and the woman's fellow passengers and household members did not show any symptoms of the infection but remained on home quarantine. A total of 17 co-passengers and 18 household members have been traced by the DOH for having close contact with the girl. The woman’s nine household members and 25 co-passengers were also placed under health surveillance by the department. Everyday, at least 414 people around the world are being stricken with the dreaded A(H1N1) virus, data culled by GMANews.TV from the World Health Organization’s May 23 report showed. Based on the WHO’s Update 37, the disease has spread in 43 countries that have 12,022 laboratory confirmed cases (12,021 cases based on GMANews.TV’s computation). Eighty six of the 12,021 people have died of the disease – 75 in Mexico, nine in the US, and one each in Canada and Costa Rica. Ninety-nine percent or 11,864 cases are found in 10 countries – six in the Americas; three in Europe and one in Asia. The countries are:

• US – 6,552
• Mexico – 3,892
• Canada – 719
• Japan – 321
• Spain – 126
• United Kingdom – 117
• Panama – 76
• Chile – 24
• Costa Rica – 20
• Germany – 17

The Americas remains to be the region with the highest number of cases with 94 percent of the world's total cases to 11,331; followed by Asia with 2.8 percent to 341 cases; Europe with 2.7 percent to 321 cases; and Oceania with 21 cases and Middle East with seven. In the Americas, the US remains the country with the highest number of infections with 6,552 cases followed by Mexico with 3,892; Canada – 719; Panama – 76; Chile – 24; Costa Rica – 20; Colombia – 12; Brazil – 8; Ecuador – 8; El Salvador – 6; Peru – 5; Guatemala – 4; Cuba – 4; and Argentina – 8. In Asia, Japan has the most number of cases with 321; followed by China with 11; South Korea with three; Malaysia and Thailand with two each and India and the Philippines with one each. The WHO report did not yet include the second confirmed in the Philippines involving a 50-year-old woman who came from Chicago. In Europe, Spain has recorded the most number of infections with 126 cases followed by the United Kingdom with 117; Germany – 17; France – 16; Italy – 14; Belgium – 7; Norway – 4; The Netherlands – 3; Sweden – 3; Finland – 2; Poland – 2; Turkey – 2; Austria – 1; Denmark – 1; Greece – 1; Ireland – 1; Portugal – 1; Switzerland – 1 and Russia – 1. In Oceania, Australia has 12 cases, while New Zealand has nine. Israel, with seven cases, remains the lone country in the Middle East that was stricken with the disease. No case has so far been reported in Africa, based on the WHO’s latest report. - GMANews.TV