5 Cagayan residents positive for H1N1

MANILA, Philippines – Five residents from northern Cagayan Valley tested positive for A(H1N1) virus, the Tuguegarao City-based regional office of the Department of Health (DOH) disclosed yesterday.

However, health officials stressed that the victims, so far the first to be reported positive with the flu virus in the region, are already recovering following weeks of intense medical treatment.

Besides an eight-year-old elementary school pupil, the four other people who tested positive include three high school students from a school in Tuguegarao City and an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who came from the Middle East.

In Davao City, four more people tested positive for the A(H1N1) based on results of their throat swab samples released by the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang.

According to Southern Mindanao assistant regional health director Dr. Salvador Estrera, only one of the four new positive cases had no travel history.

The patients include a six-year-old male from Davao del Norte, a 19-year-old female and a 22-year-old male from Barangay Babak in the neighboring island of Samal, and a 39-year-old male from Panabo City who recently traveled to China.

In Los Baños, Laguna, seven students also tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus as confirmed by the RITM, Los Baños municipal health officer Dr. Alvin Isidro told The STAR in a telephone interview.

Of the seven, one is an elementary school pupil, four are students in a private high school, and two are college students.

Classes in the elementary and secondary schools where the students are studying have been temporarily suspended. The schools were not divulged.

All those afflicted with the virus are now well, Dr. Isidro reported.

School officials of the Philippine Science High school announced a suspension of classes starting Wednesday until Friday after students developed flu-like illnesses. But school officials did not confirm if the students have the A(H1N1) virus.

In Baguio City, St. Louis University (SLU) and the University of Baguio suspended their classes after two students from SLU showed flu-like symptoms, prompting university officials to close down the school for the mandatory 10-day quarantine period.

Both students are now confined at the Sacred Heart Hospital.

Meanwhile, elementary and high school classes at the University of Baguio have also been suspended starting last Wednesday until Friday as a precautionary measure, but school authorities did not disclose if they have students who tested positive for the flu virus. – With Michael Punongbayan, Charlie Lagasca, Artemio Dumlao, Antonietta Lopez, Rudy Fernandez