By DR. CASIMIRO A. YNARES III

We are ready to face the challenges posed by the swine influenza or the H1N1 virus outbreak.

We should be. This disease is nothing new to the world. It had previously claimed many lives in several parts of the globe in a pandemic 91 years ago. The medical community and public health administrators have already learned much about this disease over the past nine decades.

The United States had to deal with similar large scale outbreaks in 1979 and 1988. The medical community turned those occasions into an opportunity to address the problems encountered by the introduction of the vaccine for this type of flu.

The pandemic of 1918 and the swine influenza outbreaks in the US of 1979 and 1988 have taught the world one important lesson. In addition to the potentially fatal consequences of contracting the virus, public
panic is the next biggest concern.

Panic is rooted in ignorance. We already know much about the H1N1 virus so there is no more reason for ignorance to trigger a panic as it did in the 1918 pandemic.

Today, the year 2009, we know how the symptom of the disease and how it is transmitted.

The current flu vaccine can help delay or mitigate its spread. And there are antiviral drugs that can help those already affected.

Likewise, the power and reach of mass media have helped much in educating us all about the disease and in monitoring its presence.

Our public health officials are also doing a good job in explaining what matters, and in monitoring the entry points to the country to prevent the undue presence of carriers of the disease.

So, there is no reason to panic. A sense of national calm will go a long way in keeping our country safe from the outbreak of the disease.

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The possibility of an outbreak, of course, can be prevented.

There are two possible ways of passing on the disease: from swine to humans, and from humans to other humans.

Since it appears there are no human carriers yet in the country, we can focus on the initial primary carriers – the swine population.

Some towns in the province of Rizal still have a significant livestock industry, particularly in Teresa, and its neighbors.

Our local government workers are coordinating closely with the communities hosting these population. They emphasize three important actions to prevent the outbreak: swine vaccination, managing the livestock facility and surroundings, and managing the swine herd itself.

Despite the debate on the effectiveness of vaccine on swine due to the evolving resistance of the virus involved, prudence says go ahead and vaccinate. In addition, our workers emphasize the need to keep livestock facilities clean and disinfected.

They have also advised livestock farm workers not to smoke while in the facility. They are also advised to use gloves and face masks, especially if they have to deal with suspected carriers within their livestock herd.

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Meanwhile, the Rizal provincial government has already organized an Emergency Response Management Team. We have identified additional measures to prevent or mitigate the presence and spread of the virus and to keep our provincemates informed on the latest developments in our war against the H1N1 virus spread.

The structure of the emergency response team goes down to the municipal and barangay levels. Our barangay health workers are expected to play a vital role in the surveillance, investigation, assessment and monitoring of suspected cases of swine flu.

We will be submitting a daily report to the health officials of Calabarzon region in the event that we stumble on a case which we suspect could be caused by the H1N1 virus.

Like the rest of the country, Rizal is ready to face the challenge of the disease.