Posts Tagged ‘DOH’

1st A(H1N1) Community Outbreak Declared In Nueva Ecija

Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque had declared in Sunday the first Community Level Outbreak in Hilera, Nueva Ecija after 11 cases were positive of A(H1N1) wherein 10 are students of Hilera Elementary School and another 4 year old girl. National Epidemiology Center confirmed the report.

Contact tracing of the 11 positive cases turned out that 92 contacts are showing symptoms of A(H1N1) virus. Local Health officers are monitoring 57 other students who also exhibited symptoms of the A(H1N1).

Class suspension is set for another 10 days. Since its the first community level outbreak, it would be better if everyone in the community should wear face masks.

Actually, I’m getting paranoid already of this influenza outbreak. As of this writing, the number of 111 had climbed again to 147 positive A(H1N1) cases in the Philippines.

My Kids’ School Was Suspended For A(H1N1)

This post will serve as replacement to deleted post I posted yesterday regarding a school which already have 1 confirmed case of A(H1N1) and happens to be the school of my children.

I don’t see anything wrong with my post yesterday except a small part of it mentioned the school name (used it also on the post title). A screenshot of the post was saved on my computer.

Last weekend, CHED (Commission on Higher Education) announced the official class opening was moved to June 15 for colleges and universities. On the contrary, DepEd won’t follow CHED’s class suspension according to ABS CBN website (link is no longer available from their site).

It is clear that my purpose is not about the school per se but the idea that DepEd should as well follow CHED’s reschedule of class opening to June 15 especially for private schools. We have to admit that some private school students (elementary and high school) belong to “can afford” families that having their summer vacation abroad is normal. My concern are the students who will get infected of the virus by close contact to student who just came from travel abroad.

Panic? The moment I received the SMS, naturally I got worried of my children same as the many parents waiting outside of the school waiting for class suspension. According to DOH guidelines, If one school has confirmed positive case of novel influenza A(H1N1), the school principal can declare the suspension of classes. You can download the DOH Guideline for schools here for additional information.

I was lucky to contact the school after many times of getting a busy tone, that was around 11AM. I haven’t got the chance to know who I spoke with on the other line, I asked her if its true. Other parents said that the student was confirmed positive of A(H1N1). She said, its true but the student wasn’t able to go to school at all. So, there’s no reason to suspend class, right?

Odd? There are many hearsays, speculations about the issue. I know that it was a girl, a 3rd year high school student. I heard that the girl went to a mall with her classmates/friends recently. First day of school was Thursday (June 4) and suspended at 12nn because of the bad weather, no classes in Friday. At 6PM, the news spread like fire among students for class suspension and will resume in June 22. I called up the school again and its true.

What’s the real score? I received a comment yesterday from post yesterday (already deleted) which I read only now saying “The student already went to school last thursday, apparently the school doctor sent home 8 students who had a vacation abroad, including the girl who was later confirmed positive of the A H1N1 virus. Classes are now suspended and will resume on June 22“. Time commented was 11:30pm.

To avoid further speculations among parents and students, in behalf of the parents, I’m requesting a memo informing us (the parents and students) of the real incident. There are loopholes in the incident and we deserve to know what really happened.

Still, I don’t know if this case is already counted to already 46 confirmed A(H1N1) cases in the Philippines.

CHED: School Opening Is On June 15

Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Secretary Dr. Emmanuel Angeles announced this weekend the rescheduled school opening for colleges and universities from June 8 to June 15. The primary reason is the possible spread of A(H1N1) virus to students in colleges and universities in the Philippines. It is reportedly moved the official school opening so the exchange students from other countries and students who travelled abroad to have enough time to quarantine themselves at home.

The decision was made after De La Salle University reported 3 of its students, including two Japanese exchange students, have been infected with the dreaded virus. Classes were suspended from June 3 to 14. A wake up call for other universities to change their school opening including. Far Eastern University (FEU), Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Saint Paul University-Manila, University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), the University of the Philippines-Manila (UP) and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) already announced the changes in school opening last week before CHED officially made the announcement.

Since the summer vacation is officially extended for colleges and universities, I hope exchange students and those who just arrived from other countries will really quarantine themselves. Huwag na sana magpasaway pa. Do we have “somebody” who will monitor these students? DOH, CHED or the university administration? I think these students are mature enough to be responsible to avoid the spread of the virus.

A friend of mine in Texas called me up to greet me yesterday (it was my birthday two days ago..) and we happen to talked about the virus. I informed her that De La Salle already have 3 A(H1N1) students and classes were already suspended. She said something like this… “Yung mga taga DLSU, may pera ang karamihan ng mga students. Mabuti kung may mga pera ang magkaroon ng virus, paano yung mga nahawaan na wala naman pangpahospital o pangpagamot?”

Another wake up call?

DOH is currently tracing 120 students who had contact with 3 DLSU students. As of June 5, there are 33 A(H1N1) patients in the Philippines. tsk.