Suspected H1N1 case in Iloilo turns negative
The 64-year old “balikbayan” quarantined at the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao district, Iloilo City for showing symptoms of influenza A(H1N1) virus infection is negative of the dreaded disease.
This was confirmed by Department of Health (DOH) 6 regional director Ariel Valencia late afternoon yesterday after receiving the result of the test on the nasopharyngeal swab conducted on the patient from the Regional Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Manila.
Valencia, in a telephone interview, said they received the communication from RITM around 4:30 p.m. yesterday indicating that the patient is negative of H1N1 flu virus.
Earlier, WVMC personnel have taken precautionary measures after a woman suspected of having symptoms of A(H1N1) Influenza Virus was brought for admission at the said hospital.
The woman manifested flu-like symptom and was admitted in a private room at the medical center on May 16. The patient voluntarily submitted herself for quarantine and after she suffered from flu-like influenza.
Reportedly, she has a history of traveling to a country with reported cases of H1N1. The patient spent vacation to her child in California, USA before she manifested flu-like symptoms after arriving in Balete, Aklan.
Quarantine procedures were done to the patient by isolating her to determine if her condition will progress into H1N1 Influenza.
Hospital officials led by WVMC chief Dr. Jose Mari Fermin strictly implemented preventive measures meantime the result has yet to be released. The patient’s exact room at the hospital was kept confidential in order not to create alarm among the patients and their families.
WVMC is the hospital designated by the Department of Health as quarantine center in Western Visayas for persons suspected with H1N1 Influenza.
Inside the building, noticeably doctors, medical staff, security guards, student interns from the University of San Agustin are wearing masks. This is not a normal scene at the building since cleanliness is highly observed thereat prior to the admission of the patient.
The cleanliness and quietness inside the building could be compared to private hospitals in the city. Patients with referrals from private doctors are preferred by the hospital management to occupy a room in the two-storey building at the back portion of the compound.
It was learned that doctors who are taking care of the patient also wears mask, gloves and laboratory suits and gowns in checking the patient’s condition.
The patient’s companion inside the room was prevented from coming out and mingle with other patients or just take a breath in the building’s lobby meantime the laboratory result of the patient has yet to clear him of the virus.
A plastic container of alcohol was placed in a chair outside the patient’s room indicating that precautionary measures must be exercised after coming in and out of the room.