ID :
62135
Sun, 05/24/2009 - 18:00
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/62135
The shortlink copeid
Swine flu cases rise to 16 in Australia
(AAP) - Parents are being urged to keep their children at home if they have recently returned to Australia from any country seriously affected by swine flu.
The number of confirmed Australian cases of swine flu - or the H1N1 virus - rose to
16 on Sunday, with another teenage boy and a 27-year-old man diagnosed in Melbourne.
Schools, pre-schools and child care centres across Australia are being asked to
request parents to keep their children at home for seven days if they have returned
from overseas locations where human swine influenza is widespread.
The countries of concern include Mexico, the USA, Canada, Japan and Panama.
South Australian Education Minister and acting Health Minister Jane Lomax-Smith said
the move was based on advice from Commonwealth and local health authorities.
"The best advice is that we need to contain the spread of this flu before a vaccine
can be made available, hopefully later this year," Ms Lomax-Smith said.
"Unfortunately, this will be an inconvenience for some parents but this is a really
important part of the national approach to containing this flu and protecting
Australians."
WA Health Minister Kim Hames said that while the virus was yet to spread to WA, he
urged parents to heed the advice.
"The reason they have recommended students only is because this particular virus
does seem to have a predilection for younger people," Mr Hames told reporters in
Perth.
"In a school situation it is much easier for that virus to spread throughout the
school and hence into the community."
Australia's flu alert level was raised from delay to contain on Friday, which allows
authorities to close schools if students are at risk.
Two schools in Melbourne and two in Adelaide have already been shut down for a week
because some students have contracted swine flu.
In Sydney on Saturday, 2,000 passengers and 900 crew were quarantined for more than
five hours aboard the luxury liner Dawn Princess and were only allowed to leave
after tests on four suspected swine flu cases prove negative.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said it was a necessary inconvenience to stop a major
swine flu outbreak.
"Our health officials are taking it exceptionally seriously," Mr Rudd told reporters
in Canberra.
"(And) the inconvenience to the public is a necessary cost to prevent a major
outbreak and to do everything possible to prevent any deaths."
In Melbourne, two more people - including a 15-year-old schoolboy - have been
diagnosed with swine flu in Victoria, taking the national count to 16.
The boy's school, Thornbury High School in Melbourne's north, will be closed for one
week, Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews said on Sunday.
The second new case is a 27-year-old man from the northern suburbs who is already in
home quarantine, and is a cousin of a 17-year-old student who was confirmed with
swine flu last week.
The number of confirmed Australian cases of swine flu - or the H1N1 virus - rose to
16 on Sunday, with another teenage boy and a 27-year-old man diagnosed in Melbourne.
Schools, pre-schools and child care centres across Australia are being asked to
request parents to keep their children at home for seven days if they have returned
from overseas locations where human swine influenza is widespread.
The countries of concern include Mexico, the USA, Canada, Japan and Panama.
South Australian Education Minister and acting Health Minister Jane Lomax-Smith said
the move was based on advice from Commonwealth and local health authorities.
"The best advice is that we need to contain the spread of this flu before a vaccine
can be made available, hopefully later this year," Ms Lomax-Smith said.
"Unfortunately, this will be an inconvenience for some parents but this is a really
important part of the national approach to containing this flu and protecting
Australians."
WA Health Minister Kim Hames said that while the virus was yet to spread to WA, he
urged parents to heed the advice.
"The reason they have recommended students only is because this particular virus
does seem to have a predilection for younger people," Mr Hames told reporters in
Perth.
"In a school situation it is much easier for that virus to spread throughout the
school and hence into the community."
Australia's flu alert level was raised from delay to contain on Friday, which allows
authorities to close schools if students are at risk.
Two schools in Melbourne and two in Adelaide have already been shut down for a week
because some students have contracted swine flu.
In Sydney on Saturday, 2,000 passengers and 900 crew were quarantined for more than
five hours aboard the luxury liner Dawn Princess and were only allowed to leave
after tests on four suspected swine flu cases prove negative.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said it was a necessary inconvenience to stop a major
swine flu outbreak.
"Our health officials are taking it exceptionally seriously," Mr Rudd told reporters
in Canberra.
"(And) the inconvenience to the public is a necessary cost to prevent a major
outbreak and to do everything possible to prevent any deaths."
In Melbourne, two more people - including a 15-year-old schoolboy - have been
diagnosed with swine flu in Victoria, taking the national count to 16.
The boy's school, Thornbury High School in Melbourne's north, will be closed for one
week, Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews said on Sunday.
The second new case is a 27-year-old man from the northern suburbs who is already in
home quarantine, and is a cousin of a 17-year-old student who was confirmed with
swine flu last week.
