MANILA, Philippines – The country’s total confirmed cases of Influenza A(H1N1) breached the 700-mark, but the Department of Health (DoH) said the “rapid” spread of the disease was matched with a “rapid” recovery rate of 74 percent.

On Tuesday, the DoH confirmed 123 new cases, bringing the total to 727, the second highest in Southeast Asia next to Thailand, which has 980 cases according to the World Health Organization.

“We have to take note the rapid increase of cases is due to our effective surveillance and tracing of initial contacts of confirmed cases,” Duque said in a statement.

“And based on our data, people have rapid recovery and to date, 85 more patients have fully recovered from the pandemic flu and were sent home today. This makes the total number of recovered cases to 536 or 74 percent of the total confirmed cases reported since May,” he said.

Duque said most A(H1N1) patients could fight the disease with bed rest and taking plenty of fluids and vitamins.