THE leadership of the House of Representatives suspended work in the Batasan Complex on Tuesday to allow “decontamination” and sanitation of all buildings inside it following the A(H1N1)-related death of one of its employees.

Confirming that the 49-year-old woman reported by the Department of Health (DOH) as the first A(H1N1)-related death in the country was a House employee, Speaker Prospero Nograles ordered chamber officials to coordinate and maintain close coordination with the DoH to mitigate possible effects on other employees and their families.

As a result, the House would be “shut down” until June 28 to allow the sanitation of all the buildings and other procedural steps needed, in coordination with the DoH.

“Our medical services will spearhead, in coordination with the DoH, all the necessary precautionary steps needed to eliminate further health hazards. This includes the necessary contact tracing of possible victims and their families,” Nograles said.

Nograles disclosed that since Monday, employees have been given free vaccination against the ordinary flu, a benefit which could be extended to members of their families by next week.

And to prevent further spread of the virus, Nograles urged all House employees to immediately report any symptoms of the A(H1N1) virus.

The dead woman was reportedly an employee at the third floor of the Ramon V. Mitra building, which houses the committee affairs department.

Hospitals warned vs rejections

Relatedly, Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Arthur Pingoy Jr. of South Cotabato, also chairman of the House health committee, criticized hospitals that allegedly refused to take in suspected A(H1N1) cases and demanded the revocation of their licenses and withholding of PhilHealth insurance payments.

Pingoy said refusing suspected A (H1N1) cases violates laws regarding the admission of any patient or individual seeking treatment from any health care facility.

“I will guarantee that the wrongdoer will not just be imposed administrative and civil penalties but criminal liability, as well,” Pingoy said.

Lakas Rep. Marcelino Teodoro of Marikina City said hospitals that refused A (H1N1) patients should not only be warned or have their licenses and Philhealth payments withheld, but should be investigated as well. If proven guilty they must be closed immediately.

“Reports of hospital refusals are appalling especially with the pandemic level of the virus all over the world,” Teodoro said.

Party-list Rep. Ulpiano Sarmiento III of A-Teacher believes the health department has the power to actually compel hospitals to admit suspected A (H1N1) cases in the exercise of the police power of the state.

“Being the executive department tasked to implement measures relative to health, the DOH has plenary powers to enforce its mandate which includes coercive powers to insure compliance,” Sarmiento said.

Don’t forget dengue

The Department of Education is not only out to protect students from A(H1N1), but also against the continuing threat of dengue fever.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said they already advised school administrators to work closely with the Parents-Teachers Associations (PTA), Local Government Units (LGUs) and Municipal Health Offices to protect schools and communities from dengue.

DepEd Memorandum 252 Series of 2009 mandates an information-communication drive against Dengue H-Fever, which is caused by the Aedes aegypti, a domestic, day-biting mosquito.

The dengue-carrying mosquito thrives on dirty surroundings and stagnant water. “We can prevent dengue fever by keeping surroundings clean and making sure that there is no stagnant water where mosquitoes can breed,” Lapus advised.

“We have to keep our schools clean to prevent an outbreak because Dengue is far deadlier than Influenza A (H1N1). The outbreak prevention is for the good of all, hence, it should be the concern of all,” Lapus said.

The Department of Health, the lead agency in the campaign against Dengue and A (H1N1) virus, has come up with an intensive information communication campaign to fight dengue. Called 4S, it stands for search and destroy, self-protection measures, seek early consultation, and say “NO” to indiscriminate fogging.

Community outbreak in schools

Meanwhile, to underscore the seriousness of the A(H1N1) situation, the DOH announced Tuesday that some schools in Metro Manila are now at the level of a “community outbreak.”

With 24 schools shut down by the virus, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said there is now a “human to human” transmission of the virus, where new cases are no longer linked to index cases and there is no any history of travel among the infected population.

In a community outbreak, we have a “beyond-third-generation transmission” Duque said in an interview at the DOH office in Tayuman.

He described it, though, as still a low-level transmission since the outbreak occurs only in school and not in community clusters.

“[The transmission] is mixed, there’s an index case with history travel and second-generation contacts from the index cases.. .At the second and third generations it is already hard to distinguish them. So our strategy is more and more on mitigation measures,” DOH Undersecretary Mario Villaverde said in a press conference.

So far, the Hilera community in Nueva Ecija has declared a community outbreak, while some schools in Parañaque, Manila and Quezon City are now “beyond second level,” meaning the virus from the index case to the second case has also infected the third contact—“that [level of transmission] will depend on the area of the community” Duque added.

The health official head said a containment strategy is still being imposed on places that are not infected with the A (H1N1), to prevent the virus from entering uninfected areas.

The DOH has also partnered with Smart Communications in heightening the information awareness of the public against the virus via “Health Watch Hotline 155”.

The Hotline 155 provides all Smart and Talk and Text subscribers with information not only about the A (H1N1) virus but other illnesses like dengue.

According to Smart Communication on public affairs group head Ramon Isberto, specific questions or reports on the virus will be referred to DOH officials.

Tariff is at P1 per text message and P6.50 per minute for calls; however, Duque asked Smart to make the hotline free, and Isberto promised to have the company review that option.

He explained that they imposed a fee for text and call queries to the hotline in order to screen out all prank callers.

There are 38 million Smart and Talk and Text subscribers nationwide.

New cases

Duque also reported 28 more confirmed cases of A (H1N1) virus, bringing the total figure to 473 patients.

Among the confirmed cases, 85 percent or 400 patients were sent home and are fully recovered.

Aside from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, a clinic where A (H1N1) suspected cases’ throat swab tests are being confirmed , the DOH is now adding diagnostic clinics in Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu and in San Lazaro Hospital in Manila.

So far, Duque said that RITM is the only clinic authorized for testing and validation of A(H1N1) virus.