ID :
59941
Mon, 05/11/2009 - 13:48
Auther :
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https://oananews.org//node/59941
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Another male confirmed to be infected with new flu, 4th case in Japan
TOKYO, May 10 Kyodo -
Another male student who arrived at Narita airport from the United States on
Friday was confirmed to be infected with the new flu strain, the health
ministry said Sunday, bringing the number of cases of new flu patients in Japan
to four.
The student, 16, was on board the same flight as a teacher and two other
students who were confirmed Saturday to be Japan's first cases of the new
strain of the H1N1 influenza A virus. The four were among a group that returned
from a school trip to Canada via Detroit.
The student, who is also enrolled at the same high school in Neyagawa, Osaka
Prefecture, as the two other students, initially tested negative for the virus
but a detailed test by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases later
detected the new-flu strain.
He has been isolated at a different hospital in Chiba Prefecture from the three
other patients. His temperature, which was around 38 C Saturday afternoon, has
fallen to 36.7 C as of Sunday afternoon, and he is in stable condition,
according to hospital officials.
Six other students on the same flight who initially tested negative for the new
flu also underwent further tests Saturday after complaining of flu-like
symptoms, but none was found to have the disease.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said detailed tests were conducted again
Sunday for the six students, who were also part of the school trip group, but
they all turned out negative.
The ministry said it will continue to monitor the health conditions of 48
passengers and crew members -- who were on the same Northwest Airlines flight
as the four and were sitting close to them -- at a hotel near Narita airport.
It will also continue to conduct follow-up checks on the conditions of 164
other people on the flight who have gone on to various parts of Japan. The
flight had a total of 409 passengers and crew members aboard, and 193 of them
made connections to foreign destinations.
Of those who entered Japan, local authorities have been unable to contact three
foreigners in Tokyo as of Sunday afternoon. They are a British woman in her
40s, a Frenchman in his 20s and a male teenager who belongs to the U.S.
military's Yokota Air Base in the Tokyo suburbs.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Taro Aso and Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura
agreed to assemble the government's new-influenza task force in the event the
World Health Organization raises the alert against the new flu to the pandemic
phase 6 or if a secondary human-to-human infection is confirmed in Japan.
Kawamura quoted Aso as saying during their talks, ''Information should be
disclosed to the public as soon as possible. But at the same time, I hope for
calm response so as to prevent overreacting.''
According to the Osaka prefectural education board, the student in the latest
case arrived at Narita airport from Detroit on Friday afternoon together with
the three infected passengers -- a 46-year-old teacher and two 16-year-old
students from the same school -- after staying in Oakville, Canada, from April
24 on a school trip.
During a quarantine inspection on the plane upon landing, the student exhibited
no flu symptoms but later complained of fever and coughing after being taken to
the hotel for medical monitoring.
He was among 49 people subject to medical monitoring, including 28 students and
five teachers from three Osaka high schools who traveled with the initial three
confirmed cases on the school program.
The prefectural education board said the three students who have been infected
with the new flu virus often moved around together while in Canada and stayed
in the same room during a two-night excursion to Ottawa.
In addition to the student in the latest confirmed case, six female students
were taken Saturday to three hospitals in Chiba Prefecture as they developed
symptoms such as fever, coughing and sore throats after arriving at the hotel,
and were retested Sunday.
On Saturday, the health ministry reported the cases of the three patients to
the World Health Organization as Japan's first cases of the new flu. The WHO
later added Japan to its list of countries that have reported laboratory
confirmations of new-flu cases.
As of Sunday afternoon Japan time, 4,391 patients have been confirmed in 30
countries and territories around the world, and 53 of them have died, according
to government announcements and media reports.
==Kyodo
Another male student who arrived at Narita airport from the United States on
Friday was confirmed to be infected with the new flu strain, the health
ministry said Sunday, bringing the number of cases of new flu patients in Japan
to four.
The student, 16, was on board the same flight as a teacher and two other
students who were confirmed Saturday to be Japan's first cases of the new
strain of the H1N1 influenza A virus. The four were among a group that returned
from a school trip to Canada via Detroit.
The student, who is also enrolled at the same high school in Neyagawa, Osaka
Prefecture, as the two other students, initially tested negative for the virus
but a detailed test by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases later
detected the new-flu strain.
He has been isolated at a different hospital in Chiba Prefecture from the three
other patients. His temperature, which was around 38 C Saturday afternoon, has
fallen to 36.7 C as of Sunday afternoon, and he is in stable condition,
according to hospital officials.
Six other students on the same flight who initially tested negative for the new
flu also underwent further tests Saturday after complaining of flu-like
symptoms, but none was found to have the disease.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said detailed tests were conducted again
Sunday for the six students, who were also part of the school trip group, but
they all turned out negative.
The ministry said it will continue to monitor the health conditions of 48
passengers and crew members -- who were on the same Northwest Airlines flight
as the four and were sitting close to them -- at a hotel near Narita airport.
It will also continue to conduct follow-up checks on the conditions of 164
other people on the flight who have gone on to various parts of Japan. The
flight had a total of 409 passengers and crew members aboard, and 193 of them
made connections to foreign destinations.
Of those who entered Japan, local authorities have been unable to contact three
foreigners in Tokyo as of Sunday afternoon. They are a British woman in her
40s, a Frenchman in his 20s and a male teenager who belongs to the U.S.
military's Yokota Air Base in the Tokyo suburbs.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Taro Aso and Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura
agreed to assemble the government's new-influenza task force in the event the
World Health Organization raises the alert against the new flu to the pandemic
phase 6 or if a secondary human-to-human infection is confirmed in Japan.
Kawamura quoted Aso as saying during their talks, ''Information should be
disclosed to the public as soon as possible. But at the same time, I hope for
calm response so as to prevent overreacting.''
According to the Osaka prefectural education board, the student in the latest
case arrived at Narita airport from Detroit on Friday afternoon together with
the three infected passengers -- a 46-year-old teacher and two 16-year-old
students from the same school -- after staying in Oakville, Canada, from April
24 on a school trip.
During a quarantine inspection on the plane upon landing, the student exhibited
no flu symptoms but later complained of fever and coughing after being taken to
the hotel for medical monitoring.
He was among 49 people subject to medical monitoring, including 28 students and
five teachers from three Osaka high schools who traveled with the initial three
confirmed cases on the school program.
The prefectural education board said the three students who have been infected
with the new flu virus often moved around together while in Canada and stayed
in the same room during a two-night excursion to Ottawa.
In addition to the student in the latest confirmed case, six female students
were taken Saturday to three hospitals in Chiba Prefecture as they developed
symptoms such as fever, coughing and sore throats after arriving at the hotel,
and were retested Sunday.
On Saturday, the health ministry reported the cases of the three patients to
the World Health Organization as Japan's first cases of the new flu. The WHO
later added Japan to its list of countries that have reported laboratory
confirmations of new-flu cases.
As of Sunday afternoon Japan time, 4,391 patients have been confirmed in 30
countries and territories around the world, and 53 of them have died, according
to government announcements and media reports.
==Kyodo
