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Confirmed flu cases keep on rising in Asia-Pacific region
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-25 15:40 HONG KONG - The number of confirmed cases of A(H1N1) influenza continued to increase in Asia-Pacific region on Sunday as China, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines reported more new confirmed cases. The Chinese Health Ministry confirmed on Sunday that a two-year- old girl in eastern Fujian Province, who returned from the United States with her family via Hong Kong tested positive for the A(H1N1) flu, bringing the total number of confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland to eight.
The girl was reported to be a suspected A/H1N1 flu case Saturday afternoon. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted tests on the patient's samples which showed she was positive for the virus. A team of five experts from the Health Ministry made the final conclusion on Sunday. The patient is currently in a stable condition, with a normal body temperature, the ministry said. Meanwhile, there are two more suspected cases reported on the Chinese mainland on Sunday, with one in east China's Zhejiang Province, and another one in Shanghai. The Shanghai case involved a 30-year-old man who arrived in Shanghai from Australia Saturday, according to a report released by the Shanghai's municipal health bureau. The man is currently employed by an Australian company. The east China's case involved a 19-year-old boy who studied at the St. John's University in New York in the United States and returned to China on Friday. In China's Hong Kong, another case of A/H1N1 infection was confirmed on Sunday, bringing to seven the total number of people infected by the disease in the city. The case involved a 21-year-old Hong Kong student studying in the US She arrived in Hong Kong at around 10 p.m. on May 22 via flight KE607 from Seoul, said Thomas Tsang, controller of the Center for Health Protection of Hong Kong. The patient did not have a fever when she arrived at Hong Kong airport, and returned to her home in Wong Tai Sin that night. On May 23, she developed a fever and headache and went to Kwong Wah Hospital. The hospital admitted her and she was confirmed to have the virus Sunday morning. She was sent to Princess Margaret Hospital and is now stable. Her family members had tested negative while her traveling companion who has no symptom is now in the United Christian Hospital for further tests. In South Korea, the number of confirmed cases of human A(H1N1) flu has risen to 21, according to the nation's health authorities. Among the new confirmed cases, 13 people were among those whom the 23-year-old American English teacher, the fifth confirmed patient with the flu, contacted after she arrived in the country. The 13 patients, all of whom stayed in the same building with the American teacher, were detected while the authorities were tracking down those who had contact with the woman. Among the 13 people, eight were US and Canadians and two were ethnic Koreans, the authorities said. Earlier in the day, health authorities reported that three children, who arrived from New York, were confirmed with the A(H1N1) virus infection. |
