Cebu Daily News / Visayas

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/visayas/view_article.php?article_id=212375

Iloilo school suspends classes Cebu Daily News Posted date: June 25, 2009 Iloilo City — The administrators of the Assumption school in Iloilo ordered a 10-day suspension of classes at noon Tuesday after one of its students tested positive for (A-H1N1) infection. The school, located in the city, sent its students home upon the recommendation of the Department of Health and the city government. This is the first school in Western Visayas to suspend its classes because of the (A-H1N1) infection. Western Visayas regional epidemiologist Dr. Jessie Glen Alonsabe said on Tuesday that a swab sample taken from the female student tested positive for the virus after she went home to Roxas City in Capiz over the weekend. The student was confined and undergoing treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Roxas City, Alonsabe told the Inquirer in a telephone interview. Alonsabe said they recommended the suspension of classes because the infected student had been attending classes since June 8. Students, teachers and employees of the school were advised to stay at home and avoid going to public places. Parents were also urged to monitor their children for flu symptoms and to have those with symptoms examined by health personnel. The students were also advised to wash their hands frequently with soap or hand sanitizers. The parents and guardians of children flocked to the school campus when news broke out about the suspension of classes. Alonsabe said they were conducting “contract tracing” to find out how the student got infected and to identify those she came in close contact with. Mayor Jerry Treñas called on Ilonggos not to panic but to be vigilant of suspected cases. The case brings the number of confirmed cases of (A-H1N1) infection in Western Visayas to seven based on data from the DOH Center for Health Development. One confirmed patient has been discharged from the hospital, another remained confined while four others were undergoing home treatment. In Catbalogan, Samar, health authorities have been monitoring 124 individuals due to their “close contacts” with a family whose head and son were confirmed to be positive for the (A-H1N1) virus. So far, only two of them had fever, Catbalogan health officer Dr. Antonio Tirazona said on Tuesday. The 124 persons being observed by health authorities in Catbalogan included the eight immediate family members of the 44-year-old seaman who tested positive of the virus but was declared "fully recovered" on Saturday. However, his eight-year-old son was found to be positive for the virus and was quarantined at the Samar provincial hospital in Catbalogan. Tirazona said the boy's classmates were among those being monitored. Classes at St. Mary's Academy, the boy's school, have been suspended since June 16. “We have sanitized the school in time for the resumption of classes (on June 26),” Tirazona said. As of Tuesday, there were five confirmed (A-H1N1)cases in Eastern Visayas, including the seaman and his son. /Inquirer