Wednesday, July 1, 2009

2 deaths, more than 400 flu cases reported in Asia-Pacific region Wednesday

2009-07-02

HONG KONG, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Two deaths were and more than 400 new cases of flu A/H1N1 were reported in the Aisa-Pacific region on Wednesday.

Australia's tally from A/H1N1 flu-related deaths rose to eight on Wednesday after a 68-year-old man died in Victoria.

He died in hospital and his death was notified to the Department of Human Services on Tuesday.

Victoria's acting chief health officer Rosemary Lester reiterated that A/H1N1 flu was a mild illness from which many people recovered without medical treatment, but could be severe for those with chronic medical conditions.

Thailand's Public Health Ministry also announced on Wednesday the country's fifth death related to the flu.

The fifth death is a 15-year-old girl, who died in a hospital in Chonburi province, next to Bangkok, local media reported.

The Ministry also announced 59 more patients, who are confirmed to have been infected with the A/H1N1 flu virus, bringing the country's total number to 1,473.

Of the total 1,473 confirmed cases, 1,448 have already recovered, while 22 others are still treated in hospitals, he said.

A total of 1,709 flu cases have been recorded in the Philippines over the past two months, the country's health chief said on Wednesday.

Among all the confirmed cases, 1,485 patients, or 86 percent, have already recovered while the remaining 224 are still under treatment -- most of them under home management, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said in a press statement.

"The patients range from 5 months to 79 years in age, with 18 years as the median age. Most of them belonged to the 10-19 years age group and the majority of the cases were male," said the official.

Duque said that of all the reported cases, 1,568 were Filipinos, and the rest were foreigners, mostly American and Japanese.

Philippine health officials predict that the cases will keep rising in the coming days and has decided not to issue daily updates on the Influenza A/H1N1 to dispel the public notion that there is a continued escalation of flu-affected Filipinos in the country.

Vietnam's Ministry of Health confirmed eight more A/H1N1 flu cases in the country, bringing total number of flu patients to 131,the local newspaper the People's Army reported Wednesday.

Of the eight newly-detected cases, six cases were detected in the South of Vietnam and the rest two in the North, said the ministry.

Among these new cases, there were six arrivals, including one German and five Vietnamese, from infected countries to Vietnam on flights coded TG 686, UA 869, VN 929, and VN780. The other two were human-to-human transmission flu cases, said the ministry.

Vietnam has so far reported no death of the influenza A/H1N1.

Samoa's Ministry of Health confirmed that there are now two confirmed cases of influenza A/H1N1 in the Pacific island country, the Pacnews reported on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Health will continue to screen arriving passengers to Samoa despite information from the World Health Organization that border screening is not effective to keep the virus out and worries that the screening may negatively impact the tourism industry.

Fiji recorded eight new cases of influenza A/H1N1 on Wednesday, bringing the total confirmed cases to 19.

Health Ministry spokesman Iliesa Tora said although the figures continue to rise, members of the public should not be alarmed but take precautionary measures that have been sent out.

It was earlier predicted that one third of Fiji's 800,000 populations would be infected while there was enough Tamil flu to cater for 2 percent of the population.

The number of the confirmed cases in New Zealand rose to 711 on Wednesday, up 58 from 653 on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health said.

Whilst the majority of people who contract the flu this winter will be able to care for themselves at home, there are some people, with underlying health conditions who may fall acutely unwell with the illness, the Ministry of Health said.

The Malaysian Health Ministry confirmed 38 new cases on Wednesday, raising the total number of the cases in the country to196.

The ministry said that among the new cases, 33 were imported ones and five were locally transmitted ones.

The Brunei Health Ministry also confirmed 10 more new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of the cases to 42.

Meanwhile, Brunei National Disaster Council Chairman Al-Muhtadee Billah called for all parties to be ready for the worst scenario.

Macao reported six new cases, bringing the total number of such cases to 34 in the region.

The six newly confirmed cases included three locally-infected ones and three imported ones, according to Macao's Health Bureau.

Aside from the confirmed cases, a total of 108 persons were put under medical observation at their own residences.

The neighboring Hong Kong also reported 43 new cases of flu A/H1N1 on Wednesday.

This brings the total number of the cases to 828. The new cases involve 24 males and 19 females, aged between 5 and 62 years.



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