South Korea confirms 8 more Influenza A cases

By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, July 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's health authorities confirmed an
additional eight cases of influenza A on Thursday, bringing the nation's tally of
flu infections to 615.
The new patients, including one Japanese woman, tested positive for the H1N1
virus after showing flu-like symptoms, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and
Family Affairs said in an emailed statement.
Three of them recently returned from overseas trips to affected countries, such
as United States and Thailand, but quarantine officials failed to detect them
owing to their absence of fever. They reported to community health centers later
when they started to have high fevers, coughs and sore throats, the ministry
said.
Of the country's total flu cases, 442 were inbound travelers. As of Thursday
morning, 174 people remained in isolation for treatment including three who did
not show symptoms of flu but tested positive for the H1N1 virus. The remainder
were sent home after showing no further symptoms, according to the ministry.
South Korea has been relatively insulated from the global pandemic, which has
claimed hundreds of lives since the disease was first identified in April. No
deaths have been reported here.
There is growing concern that the disease could begin to spread more quickly, as
the number of reported infections is rising fast. Four quarantine workers were
recently confirmed to be infected with the disease, pointing to a need for
vaccine development.
The government plans to spend 174.8 billion won (US$134.4 million) to secure
enough vaccines to inoculate around 13 million people against the new flu. The
vaccines are expected to be available beginning in November, ahead of the winter
flu season, according to the finance ministry.
ylee@yna.co.kr
(END)