Eight more A(H1N1) cases confirmed

Three other students, aged 23 and 24, from the same trip had been confirmed to be victims of swine flu Tuesday, noted local media.

So far, a total of 32 cases of swine flu, or A(H1N1), have been confirmed in Taiwan.

CDC spokesperson Shih Wen-yi said more students may have been infected, given the collective infection.

Another 33 students reportedly have exhibited flu-like symptoms.

The students were part of two tour groups comprising 74

people traveling to popular tourist spots in Bangkok and Pattaya, Thailand. They returned to Taiwan on Sunday.

There have been reports of an alleged community outbreak in Pattaya where the students stayed, while Thailand has also recently verified an accumulative 16 cases.

The students were apparently given fever reducers by their local tour guides to help mitigate symptoms before boarding their return flight, said Shih.

One of the guides, the suspected flu origin, exhibited symptoms of the disease but later recovered, Shih said.

According to Article 42 of the Communicable Disease Control Act, the tour guide of a tour group is responsible for reporting and taking care of group members who show influenza-like symptoms.

If a tour guide violates the provision, he or she will be subject to a fine ranging from NT$10,000 to NT$150,000.

Officials at the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) have asked the remaining students to avoid large gatherings and to call the Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922, for medical attention should they develop signs of the disease.

The massive infection is of concern to the CECC because social distancing is significantly more difficult to enforce among students, which means staying away from friends.

Without confirmation of the disease, preventive isolation measures are not easy to implement, said the CECC.

Shih noted that the previous 21 people confirmed with A(H1N1) in Taiwan were cases of isolated infection.

The single A(H1N1) case indigenous to Taiwan has already made a full recovery, Shih added.

In related news, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) issued several new yellow travel alerts yesterday for Ukraine, Malaysia, French Polynesia and Trinidad and Tobago, following new reports of confirmed cases in those countries.

The yellow alert is the lowest of a three-tiered travel advisory scale.

According to the latest data released by the World Health Organization, 69 countries have officially reported a total of 21,940 A(H1N1) cases, including 125 deaths.

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