MANILA, Philippines ? Health Secretary Francisco Duque III reported eight more confirmed cases of Influenza A (H1N1) over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of the country?s cases to 54.

Six of the new cases are students of De La Salle University, while one is the first confirmed case in De La Salle-College of St. Benilde.

?These new cases are also like the previous ones that are mild in nature, very similar to the cases seen in other affected counties,? Duque said in a statement.

He said they expected more confirmed cases in the future because of the ?aggressive contact tracing? being done by the Department of Health (DOH) to track down persons who have come into contact with confirmed cases.

Duque said the eight new confirmed cases included seven Filipinos and a foreigner. Four are males and four are females, ranging from 16 to 44 years old.

Two of the eight new confirmed cases have recently traveled to the US.

Duque said that the new victims were responding positively to the treatment.