20 new H1N1 cases reported

Star: PUTRAJAYA: Twenty new influenza A (H1N1) cases have been reported in Malaysia – 16 were imported and four were locally transmitted, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican.
He said the latest cases involved 13 Malaysians and seven foreigners – a Vietnamese, a German, an Australian, a Japanese, an American and two Indonesians.
“Forty-two patients are still being treated at hospitals and all of them are responding well to treatment,” he said.
Currently, 10 patients are treated at various hospitals including Sungai Buloh Hospital, Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Penang Hospital, Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Star and Kulim Hospital.
The others are at Tuanku Jaafar Hospital in Seremban, Sarawak General Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan Hospital, Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru and Bintulu Hospital in Sarawak.
“A total of 102 patients have recovered from the disease and have been discharged,” Dr Ismail said in a statement here yesterday.
Currently, 618 people are still under home quarantine and all are healthy.
He said the 19th locally transmitted case is a 39-year-old Malaysian who had contact with his wife and two children.
The other locally transmitted case was a 15-year-old Chung Hwa High School student in Seremban, who contracted the disease from a sibling who had returned from Melbourne.
Dr Ismail said the 21st locally transmitted case involved a 36-year-old teacher from SMK Abdul Rahim 2 in Kudat while the 22nd case was a 16-year-old student from Tsun Jin Height School at Jalan Loke Yew, Cheras, who had contact with a school mate.
In Sarawak, among those quarantined were a private doctor and his two assistants in Bintulu.
The trio had come into contact with a 17-year-old student who returned from Melbourne on June 25 and who is now under treatment at Bintulu Hospital.
Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam said yesterday that the fourth confirmed case involved a 20-year-old Sarawakian student who returned from Queensland on June 27.
In Seremban, state health, science and technology and innovation committee chairman Datuk Ismail Taib said of the 13 people tested positive in the state to date, eight have recovered.
He said a 19-month-old baby, who was the first locally transmitted case in the state, was also in stable condition.
For latest information on the disease, call the influenza A hotlines at 03-8881 0200, 03-8881 0300, 03-8883 4414 and 03-8883 4415 from 8am to 9pm.