A 14-year-old member of the Philippine football team to the Asian Youth Games (AYG) has been tested positive for Influenza A (H1N1) by Singapore health experts, resulting in the postponement of games involving the team.

Reports from Malaysia and Singapore said the team, composed of 20 members, arrived in Singapore last June 18. The flu virus was only detected two days later during a routine temperature check. A subsequent medical examination at the Games Village showed the Filipino athlete tested positive for the deadly virus, commonly known as swine flu.

Members of the Philippine football team have been placed under quarantine at the Aloha resort for seven days since Friday.

Department of Health (DoH) officials have not yet confirmed the report as of yesterday.

Meanwhile, the DoH asked business or corporate entities to help in curbing Influenza A (H1N1) in schools by providing disinfectants that could be used by school children, the most susceptible to infection.

In an interview, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that while government continues to implement and develop new measures to curb H1N1, the private sector can also play a big part in limiting its spread.

“I am strongly encouraging corporate entities as a manifestation of their corporate social responsibility, to help out in providing simple basic sanitizers or anything that could enhance personal hygiene in every school, particularly in the public elementary and high schools,’’ said Duque.

“The most effective way of preventing H1N1 and other viral diseases is still good personal hygiene, and quarantine and home care, when there are indications of flu,’’ he said.

Duque made the call as H1N1 infection has become widespread in the schools, including at Hilera Elementary School in Jaen, Nueva Ecija where an outbreak had been declared.

Other elementary and high schools that have confirmed cases are Candelaria National High School in Bulacan, Lagro Elementary School, Philippine Science High School in Eastern Visayas, Don Alejandro Roces Sr. Science and Technology High Schools and Ateneo High School in Loyola Heights Quezon City.

The new flu virus is also prevalent in a dozen of colleges and universities, the first of which was reported from De La Salle University (DLSU) as early as May this year.

Other colleges that have confirmed H1N1 include St. Paul College in Pasig City, Lourdes School of Mandaluyong City, College of St. Benilde-DLSU in Taft, Far Eastern University-East Asia College, Dominican College in San Juan City, St. Andrews College Paranaque, Our Lady of Perpetual Succor College in Marikina City, University of the Philippines-Diliman, Miriam College, Ateneo De Manila - University and Mapua Institute of Technology in Makati.

School authorities had earlier suspended classes to give way to the disinfection of the schools, and to allow those who came from H1N1-affected countries to undergo home quarantine.

Duque clarified that distribution of disinfectants or hand sanitizers should be made in public schools, adding that private schools can easily allocate for the disinfection of their schools.

Asked if it is also necessary for the school populace to use face masks, Duque said masks are very good shield for those who are already sick, including those with obstructive pulmonary diseases, tuberculosis and heart ailment among others, as this will protect them from acquiring multiple infections.

“Kung wala ka namang sakit o ano mang nararamdaman, hindi naman kailangang magsuot ng mask. Dapat lang talaga palakasin natin ang ating resistensya, uminom ng vitamins and zinc,’’ he said.

The health chief cautioned, however, that while the flu strain that hit the country is a mild one, there is always a possibility for the virus to mutate and become fatal especially in individuals with pre-existing conditions.

He advised those with chronic diseases to be always on their toes since they are the most at risk.

“We should not be too complacent and let our guard down. We should continue to be vigilant as we in the government continue to monitor if there are any changes in its trends and patterns,’’ said Duque.

Reacting to Duque’s call, Education assistant secretary for special projects Dr. Thelma Santos said the appeal of the health secretary is very timely as public schools are very much in dire need of disinfectants.

"In times like this, we really need the help of all sectors. We welcome all their assistance because we have to sustain efforts for cleanliness and sanitation in all 42, 000 public schools,'' Santos said.

Santos said the DepEd recently distributed some 265, 000 bars of soap in Bulacan, while thousands more were delivered to Nueva Ecija, two of the areas that had high prevalence of H1N1, to maintain hygiene and reduce infection.

Citing data from DepEd's action center, Santos said there are two new confirmed H1N1 cases from Sta. Rosa Central School in Laguna, while 43 pupils from Cainta ELementary School are under observation.

A few H1N1 suspects were also reported from Bacabac Elementary school in Tarlac, and Dedasto High School and Sakdalan High School in Bulacan, she said.

According to her, the DepEd is currently coordinating with the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) to determine if there is a need for parents of children affected with H1N1 to undergo psychosocial debriefing.

The number of confirmed H1N1 cases in the country still stands at 344. In its June 19 data, DOH said that most of the confirmed cases were from Metro Manila with 234(68%), Central Luzon (region III) with 45 (13%) and CALABARZON (Region 4-A) with 31 (9%).

In the National Capital Region (NCR), most of the cases came from Quezon City (81 or 34%), Manila (44 or 18%), Paranaque (21 or 9%) and Makati (15 or 6%).Their age range is from 1 t 76 years old, with 18 as the median age. Most of the cases belonged to the 15-24 years age group (171 or 50%). Majority of them were males (187 or 54.4%).

Of the total 344 confirmed cases, DOH said that 305 (89%) are Filipinos. The other nationalities are Japanese (6), American (4), Australian (1), Chinese (1), Indian (1), Iranian (1), Korean (1) and Swedish (1). The remaining 22 did not specify their nationality.

The DOH said that 101 had history of travel to a country which had confirmed cases; most came from USA (48 or 14%), Japan (16 or 5%) and China (10 or 3%).

Worldwide, cases of H1N1 have peaked to 39, 620 with 167 deaths from 88 reporting countries.

New countries that reported H1N1 include Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, France French Polynesia, France Martinique, Jordan, Netherlands, Curacao, Qatar, Samoa, Sri Lanka, UK Isle of Man, UK Jersey and Yemen, according to the World Health Organization.

DepEd, DoH revising A (H1N1) guidelines

The Department of Education yesterday said it was coordinating with the Department of Health in revising guidelines in addressing A (H1N1) cases at schools even as more schools are suspending classes following discovery of positive cases of infection among students.

DepEd Undersecretary Ramon Bacani said Thursday that the department, together with the Department of Health (DoH) is ironing out a new set of guidelines schools to address the
virus situation.

“The revision of the guidelines was also in relation to the shift in approach from containment to mitigation in addressing the problem posed by the virus,” Bacani said. (With reports by Shianee Mamanglu and Angelo Garcia)