The Department of Health (DoH) Friday said the public should not panic even as the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that the world is now facing the highest Pandemic Alert level on Influenza A (H1N1).

Officials of DoH, however, advised the public not to be complacent over the virus that has affected 28,774 and killed 144 persons globally.

WHO officials on Thursday raised the Pandemic Alert level to 6 which means that there is now a sustained transmission in more than one country in two WHO regions.

A (H1N1) has spread rapidly in the United States and Mexico, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, and in the WHO Western Pacific Region that includes Australia, Japan, and China. WHO described the virus as ‘'contagious and highly transmissible from person to person.’'

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said the health department is getting ready to shift its A (H1N1) measures from containment to mitigation should community-level transmission happen in the country.

A community-level transmission on A (H1N1) is present when the source of the virus can no longer be traced clearly, said Dr. Eric Tayag, director of the National Epidemiology Center (NEC).

"This is when the chain of human to human transmission is no longer clear. It is already widespread. We can no longer trace how fast the virus has spread or how many had been affected and how many cases are unreported," he said.

Shifting from containment to mitigation strategy would mean that the DoH would no longer test each person who manifests flu-like symptoms and contact tracing would no longer be carried out as well.

DoH officials said since the virus has consistently manifested itself in a mild form, the shift from containment to mitigation would mean that A (H1N1) would now be treated as the common flu, some patients can be treated at home while those with underlying conditions would still require
hospitalization.

"I emphasize early and apropriate health seeking behavior. For those with only mild symptoms, supportive care at home consisting of fluids, bed rest, viamins and antipyretics should be enough for most cases,” Duque said.

“If you have progressive symptoms and preexisting conditions like asthma, heart disease, diabetes, pregnant, malnourished, and you have HIV or TB, then immediately seek health medical care," he noted.

Duque added: "It would be impractical to test every individual for H1N1 but we advise them to seek medical consultation so that the DoH could also monitor how many cases of H1N1 we already have...During the mitigation phase, medical treatment would be on a case to case basis.” As of now, the treatment is the same. But during the mitigation phase, treatment would be different for children and for older people," Dr. Tayag said.

Tayag explained that many confirmed cases in the country were healed and discharged from hospitals even before they received the antiviral drug Oseltamivir because presently, the virus manifests in its mild form plus a self-limiting capacity.

Tayag warned that ’ 'it may not be the same in the coming months.’'

“Even as we are already in the pandemic alert level 6, there should be no paranoia over every person who exhibits flu-like symptoms,” he said.

He added: "Not all persons who cough, sneeze or who have fever have A (H1N1). We also take into consideration other factors such as if the person traveled abroad recently, or if he or she has been exposed to any confirmed case of A (H1N1) or if the person belongs to the cluster of schools that have announced confirmed cases of the virus."

Meanwhile, the government is planning to scale down its flu virus efforts amid the WHO decision to raise the influenza pandemic warning to phase 6, Malacanang yesterday said.

Prof. Gary Olivar, deputy presidential adviser for economic affairs, said Health Secretary Francisco Duque is mulling whether or not he will scale down efforts against the spread of the influenza virus. The Philippines recorded almost 100 A(H1N1) cases.

“Secretary Duque said the DoH is considering to scale down its efforts. Their consideration reflects that the declaration of pandemic is the spread of the disease and does not signify the rise in severity,” Olivar said.

“The level of fatality is low. We are saying the appropriate level of preventive behavior is to improve proper home care. I don’t think this signifies lack of concern on the DoH,” he said.