Tags : china, swine flu
China Quarantines Hundreds Of School Children From UK, US Over Swine Flu
Beijing, China (AHN) – Over 100 students along with their teachers from the UK and US have been quarantined in Beijing after eight British and American teens were tested positive for H1N1 flu in the country.
Four students each from the UK and the U.S. are being treated at a hospital in the mainland’s capital city for having contracted the H5N1 virus. The reports said that they are in a stable condition.
The students were part of different groups that arrived in China to learn more about Chinese culture and language. The visits were coordinated by the Confucius Institute, an official Chinese agency.
The Chinese authorities have quarantined the remaining 104 children and their teachers at their hotel to avoid contacts with the local population. The reports said that several of Americans had been in contact with the UK group.
More than 1,000 students are expected to visit China this week from across the world as a part of the program.
The World Health Organization, which raised its swine flu threat level to Pandemic, said that the 2009 influenza virus has spread internationally with unprecedented speed.
In past pandemics, influenza viruses have needed more than six months to spread as widely as the new H1N1 virus has spread in less than six weeks, the international health agency said in a statement on July 16.
“This pandemic has been characterized, to date, by the mildness of symptoms in the overwhelming majority of patients, who usually recover, even without medical treatment, within a week of the onset of symptoms,” the WHO said.
“However, there is still an ongoing need in all countries to closely monitor unusual events, such as clusters of cases of severe or fatal pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus infection, clusters of respiratory illness requiring hospitalization, or unexplained or unusual clinical patterns associated with serious or fatal cases,” it added.
The WHO has urged the health officials in all the countries to remain vigilant of any suspected swine flu cases to provide instant medical assistant and closely monitor their entry ports including airports.
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