Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Singapore confirms two more H1N1 cases, bringing total cases to 17


Posted: 09 June 2009 1252 hrs 

Hospital staff wearing masks screen patients with a thermal scanner at the Tan Tock Seng hospital 

SINGAPORE: There have been two more confirmed cases of Influenza A H1N1 in Singapore, bringing the total number to 17.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said the two latest cases have travel history to affected areas. They have relatively mild symptoms and are in stable condition.

One of them is a 40-year-old man from India who works in Singapore.
He returned to Singapore from Melbourne, where he was on a business trip, on Singapore Airlines SQ238 on June 6.

He developed symptoms on the morning of June 7. He sought medical attention at a private hospital on June 8 and was sent by ambulance to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

He was admitted to the Communicable Disease Centre where laboratory results confirmed his infection.

The other patient is a 25-year-old air stewardess who was off-duty.

The Malaysian was on holiday in Melbourne and returned to Singapore on Emirates EK 405 on June 7.

On June 8, she consulted a general practitioner for a non-flu related medical condition. She was sent by ambulance to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and admitted to the Communicable Disease Centre.

The MOH said it has initiated contact tracing for the latest two cases.

It asked passengers within rows 43 to 47 on SQ238 on June 6 and rows 30 to 34 on EK 405 on June 7 to call the MOH hotline at 1800-333 9999.

The ministry has advised the public to avoid non-essential travel to the H1N1 affected areas. These are Melbourne and Victoria in Australia, Kobe and Osaka in Japan and Chile, USA, Canada and Mexico.

Those who become unwell within seven days of their return should seek immediate medical attention and call 993 for an ambulance.

They should avoid taking public transport or taxi to minimise exposure.

To help in contact tracing, travellers to the affected areas have also been advised to keep records of their movements for seven days after their return to Singapore.

More information on Influenza A H1N1 is available at www.moh.gov.sg or www.flu.gov.sg.

The public can also call the ministry's hotline at 1800-333 9999. - CNA /ls


From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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