The left eye of a teenage boy became infected with Toxocariasis, a disease caused by dog roundworms, because he did not wash his hands after playing with a stray dog, the Apple Daily reported yesterday.

China's health ministry said it will punish officials who underreport cases of swine flu after a doctor famous for exposing the extent of the 2003 SARS epidemic said he believes the true number of swine flu deaths is being covered up.

The number of school classes suspended for new influenza A(H1N1) infection has so far increased to 1,222 affecting a new record of more than 40,000 students in 619 institutions across Taiwan.

Premier Wu Den-yi said Thursday clinical trials on humans have shown that a locally produced swine flu vaccine is on par with the imported one in terms of safety and efficacy.

The experimental intravenous drug, Peramivir, was immediately released to National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) yesterday to be given to a ten-year-old infected with the H1N1 influenza virus, who was unable to take Tamiflu and Relenza due to severe gastrointestinal bleeding.

Forget cookies and milk. Santa wants the swine flu vaccine. Many of the nation's Santas want to be given priority for the vaccine and not just because of those runny-nosed kids.

Asia will receive a stockpile of 500,000 courses of H1N1 flu drugs by April next year to supplement any shortfall in the region, an official with a Japanese donor agency said on Tuesday.

Hogs on farms in Taitung County have been cleared of influenza H1N1, prompting a lifting of the ban on local hog farms and on the sale of pigs to wholesale markets, the government agency in charge of the issue said yesterday.

The government began offering free vaccinations against A(H1N1) , commonly known as swine flu, to elementary school students, pre-school children, pregnant women and seriously ill patients.

The influenza A(H1N1) outbreak might present a health threat to the people of Taiwan, but the swine flu virus has also generated a new opportunity for Adimmune, the country's once-troubled sole human vaccine manufacturing company.