Australia: School closes in Melbourne

[Sally Furniss]

<headline>Swine flu outbreak closes school</headline>

<!-- Insert Article Content --> <!-- Article Details -->

• May 21, 2009 - 8:35AM

<bod> </bod>
A fourth case of swine flu has been confirmed in Melbourne.

The case comes as authorities closed Clifton Hill Primary School, in Melbourne's inner north, for two days after an two pupils were confirmed to have contracted the virus yesterday.

Victoria's acting chief health officer Rosemary Lester said the fourth case was a woman, 54, from Mexico, who flew into Melbourne via Sydney on the weekend.
There have been now six confirmed cases in Australia, the other two being in NSW and in Queensland.

Dr Lester said the woman went to hospital with flu symptoms yesterday but was well enough to be sent home. She and her family were now under quarantine. Dr Lester said she did not know where the woman was staying.

Health Minister Daniel Andrews has confirmed tests on a Victorian woman had confirmed she had contracted the H1N1 virus. The fourth case is unrelated to the three young brothers confirmed to have H1N1

Cllifton Hill Primary principal Geoff Warren this morning said the school, and state health and education departments, had taken the decision last night to close the school after three brothers returned from a trip to Disneyland with swine flu.

Two of the brothers attend the school. Their classes were quarantined yesterday after they were confirmed to have contracted the H1N1 virus.

Mr Warren said it was unlikely other pupils had been exposed to the virus.

"The concern is there," he said. "It's at a low level to be honest, but we need to be extremely cautious in this sort of situation, with the discussions worldwide about the potential for a pandemic from this,'' Mr Warren told the Nine Network.


http://www.smh.com.au/national/swine-flu-outbreak-closes-school-20090521-bfyw.html

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Australia: School closes in Melbourne

Australian Swine Flu Cases Force School Closure in Victoria
Share | Email | Print | A A A


By Gemma Daley
May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Australian authorities shut a school in the southeastern state of Victoria after three brothers contracted swine flu. The government warned cases may climb.
The boys, aged nine, 10 and 12, who visited the U.S. this month, were confirmed to be carrying the virus yesterday, prompting Clifton Hill Primary School in the state capital, Melbourne, to close, Health Minister Nicola Roxon said. The two younger brothers attend the school.
?There will be further testing of anyone showing symptoms,? Roxon told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. ?The probability of there being more cases today is fairly good.?
She said Australia has five confirmed and two suspected cases of swine flu, which the World Health Organization says has caused 80 deaths. Since April 24, the virus formally known as H1N1 has extended its reach from Mexico and the U.S. to South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and New Zealand.
Students in the boys? classes have been quarantined for six days and given anti-viral drugs, Roxon told the ABC today. Health authorities are searching for passengers on their flight back from California.
Japan has shut more than 4,000 schools in six prefectures as its case total climbed to 234 in three prefectures, from four less than two weeks ago. The spread of swine flu in Japan may prompt the WHO to declare a pandemic, according to Hitoshi Oshitani, former head of the agency?s Western Pacific region.
Australia won?t raise its alert on the virus yet, Roxon said. ?At this stage we have been advised it is not necessary,? she said.
Swine flu has sickened more than 10,000 people in 41 countries, according to the WHO.
To contact the reporters on this story: Gemma Daley in Canberra at gdaley@bloomberg.net;
Last Updated: May 20, 2009 19:17 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=awDxxZyuIyfg&refer=australia