Melbourne students quarantined in Samoa

A group of Melbourne schoolgirls on a trip to Samoa have been quarantined in their
motel after one student displayed flu symptoms, in the latest swine flu scare.
As the World Health Organisation (WHO) considered upgrading its alert level to
pandemic, 25 students and four staff from Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School in
Essendon were locked down in the Wesley Motel in Apia.
The school's deputy principal Elisabeth Rhodes confirmed the quarantine measures
came after staff sought medical attention for one of the Year Nine girls who had flu
symptoms.
A spokesman for tour organiser GET Educational Tours said that while the teenager
didn't have a confirmed case of swine flu, the entire group had been quarantined as
a precaution, along with others at the same motel.
"The hotel has been locked down, the gates have been shut, no one's allowed out,"
the spokesman said.
There had been no cases of swine flu at the school previously and none of the
students were showing symptoms at the time of their departure for the South Pacific
island nation, Ms Rhodes said.
"Our priority is to ensure the girls are safe and well cared for," Ms Rhodes told AAP.
The development came as federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon confirmed 25 people
around Australia had been admitted to hospital with swine flu, including four in
intensive care in Melbourne.
Ms Roxon said that brought the Australian swine flu tally to 1,275.
However, Queensland Health later said it had six new confirmed cases, including that
of NRL player Karmichael Hunt, on Thursday.
The state's five others to test positive range from 13 to 50 years old and reside on
the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, it said.
Centenary Child Care and Early Learning Centre, at Mount Ommaney, in Brisbane's
southwest, closed on Thursday following a confirmed case - the third child care
centre in Queensland to close because of swine flu.
The WHO was set to meet with its emergency flu experts on Thursday, who could
recommend the declaration of a swine flu pandemic.
In Australia, the National Pandemic Emergency Committee, chaired by Department of
Prime Minister and Cabinet head Terry Moran, will meet on Friday to discuss
Australia's response to the virus.
Ms Roxon said any decision by the WHO to move to pandemic phase wouldn't necessarily
change Australia's management of the influenza A(H1N1) virus.
Meanwhile, Ms Roxon has warned that not every person who is diagnosed with swine flu
will be prescribed the anti-viral drug Tamiflu.
Ms Roxon says there are some restrictions on the commercial supplies of Tamiflu
because of high demand, but national stockpiles of the anti-viral drug are still
available.
"We are asking the community to understand that in most instances, as this is mild,
Tamiflu will not be prescribed for all situations, particularly for those who are a
little bit later in their disease and not exhibiting any serious symptoms," Ms Roxon
told reporters in Melbourne.
But a spokesman for Victoria's Department of Human Services said GPs, when
prescribing Tamiflu, could provide a letter to pharmacists indicating anti-viral
drugs were also needed for people who had come into contact with the infected
person.
Meanwhile, confirmation that an NRL player has the swine flu virus has not stopped a
scheduled match on Friday between Brisbane and the Bulldogs.
Brisbane fullback Karmichael Hunt tested positive to influenza A(H1N1) and was
treated with Tamiflu on Tuesday, but may still play in the game depending on a
medical assessment.
It came as a microbiologist warned Australia could be plunged into "chaos" if it
doesn't improve its epidemic prevention plan.
Holding Redlich lawyer, microbiologist and biochemist James Schluter said if
Australian authorities don't do better next time, a more deadly virus could bring
disastrous results.
"If we're not so lucky next time, 60 to 70 per cent of Australians could be too sick
to go to work and that could lead to chaos," Mr Schluter said.