With the death of a 49 year old Filipina from Metro Manila, the Department of Health just showed how inutile they are in addressing this influenza A H1N1 issue. Look, they have been trying to tell the public not to fear and this disease is “mild” and dengue cases are far worse. Now, look at what happened.
Reports say that the woman just treated her condition cavalierly, believing in what the DOH said that the influenza A H1N1 virus is just “mild” and contracting dengue is “far worst”. When the DOH said that there’s nothing to fear, people became complacent and did not do what the government told them to. Why buy sanitizers when it’s just a common disease? Why buy face masks when the DOH says there’s nothing to worry about? And why the hell would we even bother ourselves with H1N1 when, as the DOH says, dengue is deadlier than this?
That is the message that the DoH sent to the public, thinking that this is the way to address an obvious PR problem. Duque should fire his PR consultant.
That is not the way to placate the public. No. H1N1 is not your ordinary influenza. It is not your common cold. It is deadly, as what the World Health Organization (WHO) warned us a few weeks ago. And it can mutate into a deadlier strain once it starts to adapt to its genetic environment.
For example, today’s headline which says that 80% of those who contracted the disease cope with it well enough does not mean that it’s not as deadly or deadlier than dengue. The DOH failed to say that the virus kills those with weaker constitutions. Or, in cases such as Europe, most of the victims are healthy adults.
Department of Health secretary Francisco Duque is a bumbling idiot. When this virus first broke out, the DoH did not recommend the proper and necessary countermeasures. They should have recommended at least one or two days of respite to allow government and the private sector to assess the situation and do the necessary countermeasures. Duque was more interested on preserving his image and reputation rather than addressing the monumental organisational and logical problems attendant to this problem.
Is Duque aware that shopping malls in the Philippines are not inspecting those who enter their facilities? How about factories? Owners should start checking the body temperatures of their workers. And those of call centers and private businesses? They should start routine checking just to make sure. Also, how safe are government offices, especially the LTO and the rest where lots of people converge to transact business? How about bars and nightclubs? How safe are these places? Duque does not know. How about restaurants, gyms and other public places?
We should do a Mexico and temporarily halt all activities to allow businesses to assess the situation, do the necessary contamination procedures and ensure that every facility is well sanitized to deter the further spread of this virus. The case of this woman is proof positive that the virus has already contaminated certain places in Metro Manila. The thing here is, the DoH don’t even know. They don’t know. And worst, they simply don’t know what to do next. If such a woman can contract the disease in Metro Manila, and cases broke out in such isolated places as Nueva Ecija and Bulacan and Bacolod, how sure is the DOH that these are not proof positive of community outbreaks?
DOH officials should be fired from their jobs and government should seek assistance from the WHO and the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP). Our country has a history of similar pandemics and we must not be too complacent and confident that this time around, everything is alright.
As I said, government should declare a two day holiday especially in Metro Manila. Do the proper and necessary containment procedures. Metro Manila is a very congested place, especially Manila. Manila is full of slums, a good breeding ground for diseases like H1N1. Government should place the entire Metro Manila under a State of Emergency and mobilize all units to ensure the safety of all its citizens.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Achoo! Man, I’ve even seen men after pissing in the urinals, they go straight to the door without washing their hands. Still stone age behavior in this country.
sometimes I did that bro, yet, with the spread of H1N1, i always remind myself to wash my hands, hehehe!
Pinas has not even submitted a purchase order for A(H1N1) vaccine. The government should order at least 250,000 vaccine shots for the first-responders (nurses, doctors, police, teachers and the department-heads and above of Malacanang, Department of Health, Congress and other government offices).
Pinas should also consider raising VAT for a 6-month period if only to raise money to buy the A(H1N1) vaccine.
How can you place an order for a vaccine that does not exist?
Also, how do you know these things? Are you involved in the procurement department of DOH?
what do u mean doesn’t exist? it does.
Source? Is it already being mass produced?
By the way, Dengue Fever (which always strikes Pinas with each arrival of the rainy season because Pinoys have not controlled the mosquito population yet) is several times deadlier then A(H1N1).
One death in 500-cases for A(H1N1) is less than 1/2 percent.
If you have not had dengue yet, then beware. Here are WHO statististics:
Some other statistics:
* During epidemics of dengue, infection rates among those who have not been previously exposed to the virus are often 40% to 50%, but can reach 80% to 90%.
* An estimated 500 000 people with DHF require hospitalization each year, a very large proportion of whom are children. About 2.5% of those affected die.
* Without proper treatment, DHF fatality rates can exceed 20%. Wider access to medical care from health providers with knowledge about DHF – physicians and nurses who recognize its symptoms and know how to treat its effects – can reduce death rates to less than 1%.
given what you said here, if the vaccine is expensive, its a good idea to just hold off on buying it.
Gab,
Novartis announced it has developed one but it will take months of further field testing before its gets USFDA approval to be marketed.
What’s your source? Should I believe you? What condition did the woman treated cavalierly? What exactly is her condition prior to her death anyway? Did she travel from a place where known outbreaks of A(H1N1) influenza are happening? Or, did she have a close contact with a person who travelled from such a place?
hi baycas,
please scour the internet, interview the employees in Congress. I did just that. and please read more newspapers. and listen to the radio. thanks.
Yes we must all panic now and order gazillions of doses of the non-existent H1N1 vaccine. Any vaccine will do since theyll have the same preventative capacity anyway, which is nada. DOH presented us with accurate facts as they could muster. The fact is, people die. To blame DOH for this woman’s death is overkill.
And this new flu virus is not deadly. Most of those afflicted recover without medical intervention. The scare mongers claim it could mutate, but that is possible for all viral diseases, including the regular flu which has killed more people than swine flu.
This call-to-panic and clamor for a 2-day vacation stops when it is made clear:
two-day vacation without pay.
hahaha. that’s good UP n grad.nah, it should be a two day paid holiday. para me pambili ka ng gamot.
What condition did the woman treat cavalierly? Was it the ILI or the underlying deadly conditions she already have prior to her exposure to the A(H1N1) virus?
“Government should place the entire Metro Manila under a State of Emergency and mobilize all units to ensure the safety of all its citizens.”
Tsk tsk. Let us not be ‘hysterical hypocondriacs of history.’
Declare a state of emergency and RP would look strange in the eyes of the world. Simpleng trangkaso, ginawang malaking kaso.
We’d truly be the sick of Asia, literally and figuratively. :)
Philippines Already IS… the sick man of Asia
hay PhilManila, you don’t know your History.
Mexico did just that. Some US states also did that. We’re not hysterical hypocondriacs of History. We don’t trust government lang since they’re apparently bungling their jobs.
what’s wrong with a momentary stoppage of work if it would completely help in averting a further spread of this virus? Other countries already did that.
“Reports say that the woman just treated her condition cavalierly…”
I heard she had not been tested for the disease. Did she refuse treatment?
Apparently, she self-medicated and it was only after she had died that medical personnel was informed she had flu symptoms.
Here is cut-and-paste from inquirer newsclip.
The woman self-medicated with paracetamol and was not among the confirmed A(H1N1) patients until Saturday, a day after she died last Friday, when doctors got a swab sample from her throat, Duque said.
The woman’s family reported to the DoH that she had flu symptoms before her death, prompting the A(H1N1) test, Duque said.
Because she was the first case, they probably kept it hush-hush, thinking it’ll case a panic. Problem is, they can’t keep it hush-hush now that she’s dead.
And she is the victim of an all too common attitude in people today towards health, which is to self-medicate instead of going to the doctor. Unfortunately for her, it proved fatal.
Oops, I meant testing, not treatment.
Some government offices may have personnel who are also in business.
One tactic to sell your product is the FEAR TACTIC. Or businesses
can pay personnel in the DOH to issue FEAR TACTIC to make the public
buy their products. Can you see the marketing techniques of these
people? A SUCKER IS BORN IN EVERY MINUTE, as stated by Circus Masters, Barnum and Bailey…
@Huden: Are you saying that Patricio is selling something?
No, somebody is using Scare Tactics to make you buy something…
hay mike H, where are you from? are you from here? our government has a history of faux pas. government has a history of bungling their jobs. this one, if managed improperly, will lead to the further spread of the virus. hala!
Again, can you please cite your reference?
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I guess rather than play the “blame game,” can you just help inform readers how to mitigate the rapidly evolving threat?
baycas,
i already did—-momentarily stop all activities for government and concerned agencies to assess the situation fairly and objectively and do the proper counter-measures. this is how Mexico did and other states in the US and Europe. What is two days?
Please HELP INFORM readers…like this one…
Influenza A (H1N1) virus: Things to know, things to do
…I thought you already the scoured the net…
RELAX ka lang Patricio.
It’s good to raise the alarm but shouting FIRE at the top of your lungs in a crowded theater may not be the best way to call attention.
I think that the Inquirer already pointed out that the woman’s death was attributed to:
1) an existing heart condition
2) she was on self-medication (paracetamol)
Yes, the DoH apparently cannot do the job of guarding the entire country from the A(H1N1).
But that only means that we ourselves must be on guard against the disease, how?
1) Proper hygiene
2) Do not go to crowded areas.
3) If you suspect that you have A(H1N1), seek a doctor’s help IMMEDIATELY to find out if you do have the virus. In the meantime, quarantine yourself and disinfect all the things in your house that you have come in contact with.
4) If you arrived from a country where there have been incidences of AH1N1, you have to quarantine yourself — whether or not you feel ill.
5) If you do have A(H1N1), report it immediately or have someone report it to the DoH. Anyway, I think all hospitals have been given a directive to report any cases of A(H1N1). Along with reporting, try to list down everyone whom you may have come in close contact with and note down the times where you were at any crowded places for a significant period of time.
It will take all of us to battle the spread of A(H1N1).
It might be foolish to think that only one person is responsible for the spread of the disease.
Do not forget to buy our face masks at our Stores on Avenida.Or
buy the Anti Swine Flu Drugs at OUR Pharmacies. Or get your Anti
Swine Flu Shots at our Medical Clinics. Be ready with your COLD
CASH. YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE! THIS IS A HIGHWAY ROBBERY!
No.. no.. no.. arrivals from USA, Mindanao, Cebu, Jaen/Nueva Ecija (and other places where they have A(H1N1)) do not quarantine themselves if they do not feel ill.
ONLY if you start feeling ill do you quarantine yourself.
There is also such a thing as self-quarantine and social distancing, meaning NO symptoms yet but one enforces isolation in order to prevent spread of disease. An example is a healthcare worker who travelled from a place where disease outbreak is known or who came in contact with a confirmed case of the disease.
thats the problem Mike H. everyone should do self-quarantine the minute they arrived from abroad. wala dapat exception dyan.
kaya naman kasi nagkaganon ang tingin ng mga tao ay dahil kina Senator Migs Zubiri at Pacquiao. Hindi sila nag self-quarantine dahil tiwala sila sa sarili nila. Kaya naman, walang nakinig at tignan mo, mabilis kumalat yung virus sa ating bansa.
hi paul,
you know, the reason why I wrote something like this is that’s the surest way to tell the DOH to do more, work more and study the problem more.
today’s news says that the woman did not really treat her condition as a serious one because she believed in what the DOH said—that this is a mild and curable disease and it will go away after a few days of treatment.
now, what happened? she died. what I want government to do is simple—declare a two day holiday so that they’ll be able to mobilize government units and sanitize public areas.
Who takes responsibility for the thousands of poor people killed by tuberculosis? And why arent we panicking about tuberculosis which is a far more deadly disease? Or malaria? Or cholera. And yet, Pat, youre calling for emergency rule for the flu which has killed one woman with a heart condition.
I find it ironic that you admit government is helpless and bungling and yet your solution is to give it more power.
thats good Paul. I think you got what I’m trying to say here.
I don’t intend to shout inside a cinema. No. I just want us to stand up and help the DOH, but that agency should at least be transparent with us and call on all the people to help fight the disease. Kaya nga sinabi ko na tanga si Duque dahil dapat una pa lang, sinabi na niya yan. Eh, hindi ganon ang ginawa nyan.
Sinabi nya na walang dapat ipangamba dahil hindi naman nakamamatay ang H1N1. Mali. Na hindi dapat matakot dahil mild lang naman ang H1N1 dito. Tangek ulit.
Kung naging tapat lang sila sa atin, at least ma-avert ng kaunti itong pagkalat ng H1N1.
Can we really know what went on in the mind of that woman? The DOH clearly encourages everyone with the flu to have themselves tested at the RITM, or at least see a doctor — the fact that she already developed pneumonia should’ve been enough. Clearly, her flu was beyond mild already.
I don’t think the DOH can do anything if a person refuses to avail of treatment.
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I am amused by UP n grad’s assumption that there is an AH1N1 vaccine. It usually takes 6 months to a year to develop one — this much we learned from the SARS and AH5N1 (bird flu) epidemics of the past years.
I guess we should call UP n grad as “UP n grad Prime”, because clearly, he is from the future.
but there is one, according 2 d CDC
I’d look at that so-called vaccine with a skeptical eye, Gabby. It smells more like press release — not to mention marketing for Big Pharma — than actual science.
According to WHO, the vaccine is not yet ready:
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/frequently_asked_questions/vaccine_preparedness/en/
This is the final word.
I checked CDC and there’s nothing on a final H1N1 vaccine. What you probably saw was this, describing use of an earlier flu vaccine on H1N1 patients:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5819a1.htm
but there is a vaccine right? its being developed now, using the same (or better) tech to make the traditional vaccines.
its not a marketing gimmik. flu vaccines are very real and they exist.
@chino
but there is work being done. its just a matter of time
i DO agree that the fuss about this H1n1 is misplaced as its not really a killer, so i’m not sure what the big deal is. its one reason not to buy any vaccine (that is yet to be mass produced)
Gabby, your trust in Big Pharma is truly heartwarming. ;-)
and your pessimism is confusing.
what is the basis for it?
I think one’s view on the virus depends on one’s health, ability to stay away from others (hard in Manila), and distance from a first-class hospital. DoH has a thankless task – reading risks, getting it right on where to spend money, balancing between causing Filipinos to be complacent, or causing them to panic; they have been criticized for both, so maybe they are getting it right. People are highly aware, but not running about like Chicken Little.
My suggestion . . . take care, pray, and cut DoH a little slack.
From my hideaway deep in the hills . . .
Joe
I agree with Jeg. We should be dreadful about more deadly diseases such as tuberculosis or cholera than panick about AH1N1 which is less deadly. That woman, although tested positive for H1N1, died of heart failure.
Health Secretary Duque is utilizing this H1N1 scare to the hilt for his senatorial ambition, and to distract the public from the more pressing problem of governance of his boss such as this ConAss plan.
By the way guys the victim was, get this: an employee of the House of Representatives as disclosed by House Committee on Health Chairman Arthur Pingoy.
Another knee-jerk reaction from our tibak friends.
This A(H1N1) / swine flu scare is basically fear mongering.
So people here are raising hackles over a vaccine that is yet to be tested and proved
Typical. And funny. If you want to be lab rats, be our guest. ;)