MANILA, Philippines?Six more people in the country were confirmed to have the Influenza A(H1N1) virus bringing the total number of such cases to 39, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said Monday.

At a Senate hearing, the health secretary said the symptoms of the disease monitored in the country show that it?s ?mild form of influenza.?

No casualty related to the disease has been reported yet, he said, appealing to media practitioners to refrain from using the words "dreaded," "fatal," and "feared" in describing the disease.

Duque also announced that from containment, his department will shift its strategy to early "mitigation" of the illness.

The health secretary was at the Senate for a hearing on the implementation of the Cheaper Medicines Law.