‘It’s OK to be wary, cautious on swine flu,’ Napulan tells public
Lack of thorough knowledge on what exactly is swine flu and the extent of danger it poses to the public may after all be good.
In fact, for First District Board Member Mac Napulan, this stance may very well save more lives and come in handy to the swine flu scare. That is, if said uncertainty is matched by caution, care and vigilance as Napulan calls for the public to be wary.
A physician by profession, Napulan specializes in internal medicine, heart and lung diseases. He is also chairman of the 9th Iloilo Sanggunian Panlalawigan’s (SP) Committee on Health.
“Swine flu caused a worldwide scare being new and its characteristic not yet well understood,” he began. “It is reason enough for us to be wary and cautious because a viral infection just like any other viral diseases has no definite treatment
Napulan was reached for comment following Saturday’s swine flu scare brought home by a returning US-based Ilonggo family of three held in Manila for tests.
Picked up by the thermal scanning equipment at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to have high fever, the family was immediately quarantined. Reports said the trio would have boarded a connecting flight to Iloilo had the orders were not carried out.
Since the swine flu global pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to increase global alert level to Phase 5, second highest, with disturbing human to human virus transmission.
“What’s comforting to note though on swine flu is that mortality have not increased which means if you have good resistance you could overcome the disease, ” Napulan added.
The Ilonggo family held and quarantined Saturday was bound for Barotac Viejo, Iloilo and came from San Francisco, California, USA. Identities of all three family members were withheld from the media.
Blood samples were taken to the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang, Manila. By Saturday evening, results came back with a negative result for the swine flu virus technically labeled by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the 2009 H1N1.
“Phase 5 means that there is now “human to human transmission of the virus causing sustained community outbreaks in at least two countries in one WHO region”. In this scenario, it is expected that air travel can further spread illness thus increasing the risk of a full-scale pandemic. All countries are now expected to ready the full implementation of their Pandemic Response Plans Thus, today, I have convened a Command Conference with all the Directors of the Centers for Health Development and the DOH-retained Hospitals including all regional epidemiologists to discuss the readiness plans and command and control systems for an imminent pandemic.I am also calling for a meeting with the Chiefs of all private hospitals to coordinate with the DOH on how they can prepare and respond to possible cases of the Mexican Swine Flu which may come to their attention.We will also collaborate with the business sector and members of the pharmaceutical sector on how they can contribute to the National Pandemic Preparedness and Response Plan,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in a public statement said.
Swine flu is a type of influenza virus usually found in pigs with H1N1 as the most common. The current global virus however is a new variation of an H1N1 that had health experts worldwide highly concerned because it has shown the ability to pass from human to human. When the flu spreads person to person, instead of from animals to humans, it can continue to mutate, making it harder to treat or fight, since the people have no natural immunity.