Swine Flu hits Manila

The global phenomena hits Manila, Philippines. We have confirmed 29 cases of Swine Flu in the country, 2 of which are De La Salle University students that made DLSU announced the suspension of classes from June 04 to June 14 to quarantine the campus.

Swine flu first hit Mexico City and spreads globally. Now, it is spreading in other countries in Asia such as Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and now it is here in the Philippines. The strain that is spreading globally is A/H1N1 and it is spreading fast here and elsewhere in the world.

Swine Influenza (A/H1N1) is throughly explained in wikipedia as:

Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, also known as A(H1N1), is a subtype of influenzavirus A and the most common cause of influenza (flu) in humans. Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans, including the strain(s) responsible for the 1918 flu pandemic which killed 50-100 million people worldwide. Less virulent H1N1 strains still exist in the wild today, worldwide, causing a small fraction of all influenza-like illness and a large fraction of all seasonal influenza. H1N1 strains caused roughly half of all flu infections in 2006.^[1] Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs (swine influenza) and in birds (avian influenza).

In March, April and May 2009, thousands of laboratory-confirmed infections and a number of deaths were caused by an outbreak of a new strain of H1N1.

Just a gentle reminder dear readers: Please be careful and should you feel any symptoms of flu consult your physician immediately. We don't want you catching Swine Flu and affecting others around you. It is always better to be safe than be sorry later on!

*** Illustrations were taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H1N1