The days of nervy and tedious self-quarantine procedures are over as health officials took a whole new approach in the continuing battle against the dreaded influenza A (H1N1) virus.
Instead, the Department of Health (DOH) called for “responsible self-monitoring,” saying that “Travelers shall monitor themselves for 10 days after arrival, observe for signs and symptoms of influenza-like illness and submit to DOH national guidelines if these symptoms develop.”
Nearly two months since it went on overdrive to address the entry of the so-called swine flu virus, the DOH has begun to ease up on control measures against what it described as a generally mild flu strain.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, in a notice disclosed to the media, announced in a memorandum, dated June 24, that “major policy changes from containment to mitigation response to the Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak in the country.”
In its new policy, health officials ordered that travelers arriving from countries with reported A (H1N1) cases no longer have to observe home quarantine before they return to their respective schools or workplaces.
Previously, the DOH recommended home quarantine of up to 10 days for all newly-arrived travelers regardless of whether they had flu-like symptoms or not.
However, under its new guidelines, the DOH lifted mandatory hospital confinement for all confirmed and suspected cases. The Health Department also recommended “voluntary home confinement in general” for those with flu symptoms.
The new guideline also directed the stop to the giving of the anti-flu drug Oseltamivir to all suspected and confirmed cases.
It said anti-viral treatment will be limited to confirmed cases with “severe or progressive illness, or pre-existing illness that compromises immune and pulmonary system.” The DOH also announced that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) would no longer test all suspected cases.
There will also be quick-reaction teams for immediate deployment to areas with A(H1N1) cases and unemployed nurses will be tapped for the information campaign on the disease.
President Macapagal-Arroyo has also directed the Department of Agriculture to help hog raisers who are “silent, but, hurting victims” of the worldwide flu virus, according to Press Secretary Cerge Remonde.
Even with the lifting of the required home quarantine procedure, “socially responsible individuals” who know or suspect they have been infected should practice the proper “social distancing.”
The memorandum also ordered that healthcare workers will be given “post-exposure prophylaxis” only if they had inadequate personal protective equipment when they tended to a confirmed swine flu case.
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