2 more Davao schools suspend classes due to A(H1N1)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Two more schools here have suspended classes this week after their students were found positive for the Influenza A(H1N1) virus.

The new cases brought to four the number of schools that suspended classes here.

The Holy Cross of Davao College is set to resume classes on July 27 after a 10-day suspension after one of its students was diagnosed with the flu virus.

Classes in the elementary and high school departments of the University of Immaculate Concepcion were also suspended for 10 days after one of its students was also found positive for the virus.

The San Pedro College also earlier suspended classes until July 27 after one student was found to have been affected by the flu after the throat swab sample sent to the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine in Alabang tested positive.

The Ateneo de Davao University, however, suspended only two classes and not the entire school even if seven of its students were reported to have been infected.

Reports at the Southern Mindanao regional health office said that there are already 57 positive swine flu cases in the region with most of them in Davao City, while others are spread out in the nearby provinces of Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur.

Majority of the cases in the region were reported to have already recovered, as there were no reports of any death from the infection.

Classes at Digos City National High School (DCNHS) in Digos City, Davao del Sur were also suspended earlier this week after a 14-year-old student tested positive for the flu virus.

The student was reported to be among those who were in contact with an earlier A(H1N1) case, a nine-year-old pupil of Don Mariano Marcos Elementary School, also in Digos City.

The medical community in the south is awaiting the start of the Davao Medical Center as the new laboratory testing center for throat swab samples for A(H1N1) cases in Mindanao.

Davao Medical Center chief Dr. Leopoldo Vega said the Department of Health is putting up a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine in the hospital laboratory in an effort to help ease the already overwhelming requests for examination of throat swab samples at the RITM.

Vega said a number of laboratory personnel at the DMC were sent to the RITM for training on the proper operation of the said machine.

The PCR machine is expected to expedite the processing of the results that would possibly be out within 48 hours at the most.

Face masks at ASEAN meet

The Jakarta bombings and North Korea are set to top the agenda at Asia’s biggest security meeting in Phuket, Thailand, but anti-A(H1N1) flu masks were the top priority for thousands of visiting delegates on Sunday.

The Thai organizers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum handed out protective facemasks to foreign ministers, officials and journalists as they arrived at the venue on the resort island of Phuket.

“Masks have been handed to everyone at the meeting to make those attending confident that Thailand does not neglect the increasing spread of swine flu,” Thai foreign ministry spokeswoman Vimon Kidchob said.

Thailand has reported the largest number of fatalities in Southeast Asia from the A(H1N1) virus, with 24 deaths so far, and has more than 4,000 confirmed cases of the disease.

The spread of the pandemic will also be discussed by ASEAN foreign ministers in talks this week, which US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to attend.