The Philippines has intensified its preparations for the possible entry into the country of a second wave of the swine flu pandemic which experts predict will be far more dangerous than the first wave of infections. However, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III assured Monday that for now, there is no sign that the A(H1N1) virus has mutated into a deadlier form in the Philippines. “As of now there is no evidence showing the virus has mutated in the Philippines. The situation remains stable at least for now,” he said in a radio interview. Nevertheless, Duque said the Department of Health (DOH) has intensified its campaign against the mysterious disease and is keenly monitoring how other countries handle the infections in their areas. Duque spoke even as the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning urging people all over the world to be on guard for the second wave of the swine flu infections. The WHO warned that worldwide cases of H1N1 could double every three to four days for several months and that more deaths will be documented as a result of mounting cases. The international health organization called on governments to be vigilant and maintain the efforts made at addressing the dreaded flu. Duque said health workers will be more aggressive in preventing the entry of the H1N1 virus in areas where there are no cases yet. In areas where there are already swine flu cases, he said authorities will suspend classes in specific classrooms once symptoms of influenza-like illness show up among the students. Duque said health workers have been instructed to report multiple cases of flu-like illness. He said his department has also intensified its information campaign on the disease in the provinces, adding that the printed materials being circulated provide instructions on how to slow the spread of the virus. On the proposal to revive weekly reports on swine flu cases in the Philippines, Duque said he is considering this and is even planning to expand the reports to include other variants of the influenza virus. “We will follow the recommendation of the WHO to report not just H1N1 cases, but also other influenza viruses. There are many variants of the influenza virus.” he said. The health department stopped giving daily update on H1N1 cases in the Philippines last July 29. The last count showed six fatalities from 2,688 cases of H1N1 infections. On Aug. 18, Philippine health officials announced that a vaccine against the H1N1 virus would be made available to Filipinos by October. Earlier, a labor group appealed to health authorities to resume their weekly reporting of the H1N1 cases in the light of the warning issued by the WHO about a possible “explosion'' of swine flu cases. The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said as a result of the decision taken by the health department to suspend the issuance of weekly swine flu reports, the Filipino public has put their guard down.
