(News Focus) 1st new flu death sparks worries over pandemic in S. Korea

By Koh Byung-joon
SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Yonhap) -- Until Saturday when the government reported the first
fatality from Influenza A, many South Koreans had thought that their country was
safe from the highly contagious disease.
Not any more.
Some Koreans even raised questions whether their government is capable of
stemming the disease at a time when vaccines are still months away to be
available for its people of 49 million.
Earlier, Seoul's health authorities said that a man in his 50s died of pneumonia
apparently caused by the H1N1 virus, marking the first death from what was
previously known as swine flu since its infection was reported here in early May.
"Statistically speaking, South Korea will be no big different from other
countries and the death toll could keep rising," Lee Jong-koo, head of the Korea
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), said at a hurriedly called
news conference.
According to health officials, the victim, whose identity was withheld, was
admitted to hospital with high fever after returning from an overseas trip. He
was later found to be infected with the flu virus.
South Korea has been regarded as relatively safe from the disease which has
claimed the lives of about 1,500 people worldwide since it was first reported in
late April.
So far, 2,032 South Koreans have been infected with the disease but most of them
showed mild symptoms and fully recovered. Around 400 people remain quarantined at
home or state-designated hospitals.
Infections are, however, feared to accelerate as students staying overseas for
language training or short-term trips will return home as the summer vacation
draws to an end. They could infect other classmates and family members, experts
say.
"Chances are high that the new flu could turn into a pandemic among students
after schools open. Infected students could spread the virus to senior people and
others more susceptible to the disease, leading to more cases of patients with
severe symptoms," said Kim Woo-joo, a medical professor at Korea University.
According to health officials, 50.1 percent of the total infections in South
Korea are inbound travelers and 14.7 percent contracted with the disease through
person-to-person transmission.
The government recognizes the potential threat that the disease could become a
pandemic.
Earlier, the government set aside 193 billion won to secure enough vaccine to
inoculate around 27 percent of the Korean people against the flu virus. The
vaccines will be available beginning in November, ahead of the winter flu season,
the government said.
The first flu-caused death is likely to put more pressure on health authorities
to speed up the production of "effective and safe" vaccines but health
authorities seem to have its hands tied.
"Inoculation is the one and only (most effective) alternative and we are making
efforts to provide vaccines as soon as possible," the KCDC head Lee told
reporters.
"To know when vaccines are available, however, the process of proving their
effectiveness and safety should come first but the process has yet to be
finalized so we cannot say when to start inoculation," he added.
He, instead, recommended that those traveling to "severely-affected countries"
such as the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries
be more alert to personal hygiene and report immediately to authorities when they
show flu-like symptoms.
The new flu has been spreading fast across the world, prompting the World Health
Organization to declare in June that it is a "pandemic," urging each nation to
stockpile sufficient vaccines against the disease.
South Korea upped its disease alert level to the second-highest in late July,
calling for cities and provinces to run emergency disease control systems around
the clock.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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