Flu suspends classes

A Bangkok school will today be partially closed for three days after an 11-year-old boy came down with type-A (H1N1) influenza in what is the second known case of local infection. Thirteen of his classmates have also developed fevers.

"The number of confirmed cases of swine flu in Thailand is now expected to rise daily," Dr Prat Boonyawongewirot, permanent secretary for the Public Health Ministry, said yesterday.

In the tourist city of Pattaya, authorities were asked to help control the spread of the new flu after two Taiwanese visitors were suspected to have contracted the virus while staying there.

A Hong Kong man holidaying on the resort-island of Phuket from last Thursday to Monday was also reported as falling sick with the virus upon returning home.

Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbodi said the Bangkok student, whose name was withheld, had no record of travelling abroad.

As of yesterday, the number of patients infected by type-A inluenza in Thailand had risen to 16, excluding suspected cases of foreign visitors who are no longer in the country.

The new virus, which has spread to more than 70 countries with over 20,000 victims confirmed, has also worried the tourist trade.

Deputy Pattaya mayor Veerawat Khakhay said the Tourism Ministry should urgently inform Taiwan's authorities about the latest measures adopted by the Public Health Ministry here to prevent the disease from fanning out.

Some Taiwanese tour companies are planning to cancel their programmes as a result of the latest news, he said.

"We have to boost the confidence of visitors, or else their numbers will drop further," he said.

Over 1,000 foreign visitors are due to attend an international conference in Pattaya shortly, he said.

Deputy Health Minister Manit said three sixth-grade classes of the school, located in Bangkok's Dusit district. would be suspended after it was found that 13 of the sick student's classmates had also developed fevers.

The partial closure will last until Saturday.

Students with flu symptoms were told to stay home and take medication.

The Public Health Ministry has sent its surveillance and rapid-response team to monitor the students.

"Teachers will be asked to report symptoms by phone for the duration of the three days," he said.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said the 11-year-old boy is receiving medical treatment for the influenza in hospital.

"This case is the first of its kind for Thailand and is different from other cases as this boy has no record of travelling abroad. All other patients went abroad and were infected from there," he said.

Dr Passakorn Akarasewee, director of Disease Control Department's Bureau of Epidemiology, said the 11-year-old boy was the second case of domestic infection.

The first transmission of |the new flu within the country was when a 19-year-old boy caught the flu virus from his mother after she returned from the US.

Prat, the permanent secretary for public health, said |the state of the influenza pandemic would change when cases were reported among people with no overseas travel history.