MANILA, Philippines - The number of officially reported human cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection worldwide jumped by almost 40 percent to 1,516 (Update 14) on
May 6 from 1,085 (Update 17) on
May 5, data culled by GMANews.TV from the World Health Organization (WHO) showed. As of May 6, the number of countries infected by the disease increased to 22 from 21 with the inclusion of Guatemala that has one confirmed case. H1N1 cases increased in nine of the 22 countries from May 5 to May 6. Fatalities also increased in Mexico to 29 deaths from only 25 during the same period. The WHO recorded only one death in the US on May 6. But a report from the Associated Press on Wednesday raised the number of US fatalities to two with the death of a schoolteacher in Texas. The nine countries are:
- Mexico – 822 cases from 590
- US – 403 cases from 286
- Canada – 165 from 101
- Spain – 57 from 54
- United Kingdom – 27 from 18
- Germany – 9 from 8
- Italy – 5 from 2
- South Korea – 2 from 1
The number of cases in the following countries did not change from May 5 to 6:
- New Zealand – 6
- France – 4
- Israel – 4
- El Salvador – 2
Countries with one case each are the following: Colombia; Costa Rica; Ireland; Switzerland; Austria; China Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Denmark; The Netherlands and Portugal.
Deaths in the US Texas health officials announced the first death of a US resident with swine flu, and said she was a 33-year-old schoolteacher who had recently given birth to a healthy baby. The woman died early Tuesday and had been hospitalized since April 19, said Leonel Lopez, Cameron County epidemiologist. Health officials stopped short of saying that swine flu caused the woman's death. State health department spokeswoman Carrie Williams said the woman had "chronic underlying health conditions" but wouldn't give any more details. Lopez said the flu exacerbated the woman's condition. "The swine flu is very benign by itself," Lopez said. But "by the time she came to see us it was already too late." The only other swine flu death in the US was of a Mexico City boy who also had other health problems.
5 people tested in RP In the Philippines, the Department of Health on Wednesday said five people - two Filipinos and three foreigners – were being tested for the virus. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a press conference in Manila that the two Filipinos - a 32-year-old and a 29-year-old – came from Ireland and the United States, respectively. The foreigners being tested included a 26-year-old woman from the United Kingdom, as well as a 12-year-old and a nine-year-old from South Korea. The Korean patients are undergoing observation at the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) office in Alabang, Muntinlupa, while the British and one of the Filipinos are all quarantined at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu in Central Visayas. Between May 1 and 6, the DOH had placed 10 people under observation but five of them had already tested negative for the flu infection, cutting in half the remaining people being checked. Dr. Eric Tayag of the National Epidemiology Center is set to leave the country on Thursday to meet with various health officials from Japan, South Korea, and China, according to Duque. “Their agenda in the meeting of heath ministers is to compare each other’s pandemic preparedness action plans. What will each country will do in terms of surveillance as prescribed by the World Health Organization and issues like personal prevention," Duque said. A consolidation of the reports from member countries in Asia will be presented to other world health officials during the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland on May 18, Duque said.
- GMANews.TV 
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