Philippine health authorities on Friday said the number of confirmed Influenza A/H1N1 cases in a major Manila University has risen to three, providing evidence that the virus has jumped from the infected foreign student to her classmates.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a press release that the latest infected case was a 17 year-old boy in the De La Salle University (DLSU) who has no history of travel abroad.

He reported to the school clinic of his flu-like symptoms on Wednesday when the health authorities announced a 10-day suspension of class in the university to prevent the A/H1N1 flu virus from spreading inside the campus.

De La Salle University reported on Wednesday its first confirmed A/H1N1 case, a Japanese exchange student who arrived in the Philippines in late May and updated on Thursday that a close contact of the Japanese student was also tested positive for the flu virus.

"The three DLSU cases are responding well to their treatments and do not even have fever anymore, including the latest case. Contact tracing though is still in progress," Duque said, adding that the authorities have not confirmed any case involving other schools.

At least two other universities in Manila postponed the opening of classes next week over the flue scare.

By Friday, the Philippines has reported a cumulative sum of 33 A/H1N1 cases. Duque said there is no community-level outbreak of the new flu virus and the health officials are confident in putting the situation under control.

But he also warned of the possible increase in flu cases as Manila's rainy season has kicked in.

"Especially now that we are entering the rainy season and we expect flu cases to increase, we advise them to stay at home, take supportive treatment and plenty of bed rest if they have mild symptoms," he said.

In their latest report dated June 3, the World Health Organization reported 19,273 cases and 117 deaths worldwide.

(Xinhua News Agency June 5, 2009)