A(H1N1) patient bar-hopped in Quezon City

MANILA, Philippines – A 20-year-old Filipino-Malaysian, the second person who tested positive for Influenza A(H1N1) virus in Valenzuela City, had gone bar-hopping while still infected, city health task force officials said yesterday.

The STAR also gathered that although the National Epidemiology Center (NEC) informed the city health office that the patient tested positive for the virus on June 19, the local task force on the disease found him only yesterday or 13 days later.

The patient has recovered from the disease and had been attending classes at a local college.

Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian assailed the patient’s alleged deliberate intention to “recklessly” mislead the public. He said it was unfortunate that the flu victim reportedly gave the authorities a false contact number and the wrong address, accounting for the serious delay and the unhindered spread of the disease.

Task force officials said the man gave wrong information to apparently evade being quarantined and maintain his lifestyle. The patient admitted later that he went bar-hopping in Quezon City at the time he was infected.

Gatchalian appealed to the public’s sense of social responsibility to undergo self-quarantine to prevent the spread of the disease.

“We reiterate the Department of Health’s call for vigilance while appealing to the good sense of the public to act responsibly. We are deeply concerned and appeal to everybody to take the necessary precautionary measures to prevent the disease from further spreading,” he said.

City information chief Marither Menia, a member of the city health task force A(H1N1), said members of the patient’s family have been diagnosed as A(H1N1)-free.

City epidemiologist Dr. Manuel Mapue said the patient arrived from Malaysia on June 6 but allegedly gave his date of arrival as June 9.

The man allegedly submitted himself for checkup on June 12 and was referred to the Lung Center of the Philippines for swabbing. He tested positive for the flu, according to a lab culture test made by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine on June 18.