News

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090501/thl-hong-kong-reports-first-case-of-swin-5effa79.html

Hong Kong reports first case of swine flu in Asia

Friday, May 1 04:54 pm

by Polly Hui

The first confirmed case of swine flu inAsia was recorded in Hong Kong on Friday after a Mexican man who arrived via Shanghai tested positive, Chief Executive Donald Tsang announced.

Guests and staff at the hotel where the patient had briefly stayed were placed under quarantine for seven days as officials announced "draconian" measures in a bid to contain the disease.

"We have our first confirmed swine flu case in Hong Kong. He is Mexican," Tsang told reporters.

The 25-year-old Mexican arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday from Mexico via Shanghai on China Eastern Airlinesflight 505, Tsang said.

He was admitted to hospital on Thursday night suffering from a fever and tested positive on Friday for swine flu. He was in stable condition, Tsang said.

The Metropark Hotel in Wanchai district where he had been staying had been cordoned off, he said.

"I will raise the alert level from serious to emergency," the chief executive said.

Despite putting Hong Kong on the highest level of alert, Tsang said all social activities and exhibitions would go ahead as normal and schools would remain open in the city, which is still scarred by memories of the SARS epidemic in 2003.

"I stress we don't need to panic," he said.

Police wearing face masks cordoned off the Metropark Hotel and a group of blue-gowned and masked health workers was seen entering the hotel in the bustling bar and nightclub district on Hong Kong island.

Health Secretary York Chow said guests and staff at the hotel would be quarantined for seven days.

"We have also exercised the authority... so that we will first isolate the hotel and also... ensure the relevant people are quarantined for seven days," Chow told reporters.

"Since this is the first case in Hong Kong we must be very careful as the chance of controlling and containing this infection is limited, we will try to be more draconian in our policy," Chow said.

"We will also prescribe Tamiflu for them, which is proven to be an effective prophylactic for this disease."

He said around 200 guests and 100 staff would be affected by the quarantine order, issued under the control and prevention of disease ordinance.

Hong Kong authorities were trying to find the two taxi drivers who were in contact with the man and passengers on the flight from Shanghai.

"We are also tracing the passengers who were on the same flight as this patient, particularly the three rows in front and three rows behind," Chow said.

"We're prepared to have them sent to hospital for inspection and also for quarantine," he said

He appealed for other passengers and cabin crew to come forward for health checks.

"With this I hope that we can minimise the spread of this possible virus to our community," the health secretary said.

Hong Kong, at the forefront of the SARS epidemic in 2003 and already on alert for bird flu, had previously announced a series of tough measures to combat any threat from swine flu.

The southern Chinese city has stepped up its protection measures, including the use of temperature screening machines at airports and other entry points.

Authorities have said they would detain anyone showing symptoms of the virus after arriving from an infected area.

Health officials have also advised against all non-essential travel to worst-hit Mexico.

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http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/05/01/business/business_30101795.php

Firms start to react as swine-flu fears grow

By Achara Deboonme

Published on May 1, 2009

All of a sudden, a killer flu has shown its face and disrupted normal life all over the world.

Now people in many cities are wearing face masks, hoping those can shield them from the deadly flu that has claimed 160 lives.

Twelve high-school students in Auckland were placed into five-day quarantine after having been identified as confirmed or probable swine-flu victims.

Tokyo is trying to block the swine-flu outbreak by setting up fever clinics. Indonesia and Thailand have advised citizens to avoid travel to Mexico. The good news is China says it has been stockpiling pharmaceuticals - including Tamiflu - against deadly flu.

Thai authorities are also stepping up precautionary measures. People returning from abroad and foreigners visiting Thailand will have to fill out questionnaires about their general health condition. It seems so strange that you can be going about your everyday business, and then this deadly virus can catch you through a simple sneeze.

So it's unsurprising that coal company Banpu has cancelled its trip to Shanghai scheduled for next Thursday.

Participants were told if the trip was only for a mine inspection, it would not hurt to delay it until people felt better about travelling or opening their doors to visitors.

It was also not surprising that Samitivej Hospital offered something peculiar to reporters and guests attending the launch of its new health programme yesterday.

All of them were encouraged to have a flu shot. If a fever developed after receiving it, as sometimes happens as a mild allergic reaction, they could see a doctor right away.

But there is no vaccine for this new Mexican flu. But at least if these people do not show any symptoms of influenza, they can easily be distinguished from flu victims. But then, guests and reporters could suffer from a flu-like fever after the shot.

Now that the World Health Organisation has stepped up its warning level for swine flu to level 5, we can only expect even stranger things to happen.

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http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/05/01/opinion/opinion_30101762.php

Governments must act quickly to prevent flu threat

By The Nation

Published on May 1, 2009

Asean countries are scheduled to meet in Thailand next week to discuss how to tackle the potentially deadly outbreak of swine flu. The preventive move is welcome, as the forum should provide an opportunity for the health ministers from the 10 members of Asean to unite in addressing the problem. Fortunately the outbreak of the virus has so far not been found in any Asean country.

The topic of the meeting is very relevant for Asean, whose people can travel across the region easily. If the flu virus were found in any Asean country, it would certainly raise fears as to whether that country would be able to contain the outbreak within its borders.

The Asean cooperation plan should focus on public information and how to prevent the outbreak taking hold in the region - for the well-being of both the citizens and the economy of each country. The more developed Asean countries should assist the less-developed ones in providing sufficient measures and funds to prevent an outbreak.

For instance, the provision of thermal scanners to monitor the temperatures of people arriving in the region should be a priority. In addition, public education about how to prevent infection is also vital. Proper dissemination of information is essential to ensure that the public is sufficiently informed and does not panic at the prospect of a pandemic spreading to all countries.

So far, the Asean countries are believed to be free of the virus. But no one can be complacent, for the virus has already spread across continents. The public expects to see governments doing everything they can to prevent further cases of this virus. Indeed,Asean would be negligent if it did not take immediate measures to address this serious concern of its people.

Swine Flu first comes to Asia

My reactions

1. On May 1, 2009, the new virus called Swine Flu, which recently happened in Mexico and United States, has come to Asia. Swine Flu was recorded in Hong Kong as a first case of Asia. The reason was because a Mexican who arrived in Hong Kong went to hospital because of a fever and he tested positive for swine flu. After confirming first case of swine flu in Asia, Health Secretary, York Chow, measured of security to prevent outbreak of the disease. It seemed like Asia people scared and panic when they had heard the news because they knew the swine flu could spread quickly and easily if they had no protection.

2. Everyone tended to participate in this government’s concern because it was the most serious world’s situation right now. All guests and staff at the Metropart Hotel, the hotel where the Mexican had been staying, had to quarantine for seven days to control for the disease rule. However, Donald Tsang the chief executive told earnestly to people that they should not be too much worried because he and his team would try to control the infection. He announced through medias that people should to stay calm in this circumstance and keep on their normal lives. He also assured that he could prevent the outbreak in order to encourage and increase the authorities of administrators.

3. Because these days swine flu spread over the world rapidly, most people are frightened about going abroad especially going to countries where there are the cases of swine flu recorded. But some people do not think about spreading of any virus likes my sister. She is currently in Belgium and the message she has answered me about the swine flu was “I don’t know about it, nobody cares.”

4. Swine flu virus occurs from person to person transmission through coughing and sneezing. People may infect by touching flu viruses on something and then touching their mouth or nose. Swine flu patients will show some symptoms of illness with fever but worse than that. They will be headache, sore throat, body aches, cough, diarrhea or vomiting. However, the simply and easy way to protect from the disease is wearing facemasks. Even though it cannot create to protect from breathing very small particles against the swine flu but at least it can protect wearer’s month and nose from splashes and people who wear them will feel more safety.

5. Preventing the spread of the swine flu virus:

• If I notice that I have flu symptoms, I will stay home for a couple of days until the symptoms are gone. It can help to avoid spreading the virus to others.
  
• Wash my hands frequently with soap and water.
  
• Cover my nose and mouth when cough or sneeze and avoid touching all of them.
  
• If there is something wrong or lead to be swine flu symptoms, go to see doctor right away.
  
• According to the news, people in the Metropart hotel should be quarantined for seven days in order to wait for the swine flu symptoms.

6. For people who travel to Thailand or even Thai people come back from abroad, it is a good precaution to fill out questionnaires about their general health condition. Moreover, at the airport have use Thermal Scanner to scan people’s body heat or Thermal imagine camera to screen people who have higher body temperature. Although there is no swine flu cases in Thailand, but we can protect and prevent before the swine flu come and damage our lives.

 7. Governments in each Asia country cooperate to control the outbreak. The country that has more stability in citizens and economy might help the less one. The more developed country, the better security. It is the way to cooperate with each other as a same team not as a leader or follower. We have to deal with new measurements or suitable methods to protect swine flu in each country. From my point of view, if the neighbors strong, it gives our country strong.

My conclusion

Swine Flu is now pandemic, its case widely spread in many countries. People around the world have fears of this flu virus more and more in every day because there is still not exist any vaccine to cure the swine flu for 100 percent. The only thing that normal people can do is to protect themselves from getting a flu’s risk. However, people don’t need to be too much panic over swine flu if they know how to protect it. “We do not want to create panic, but we need to know about the disease,” said Mohamed Osama Mere Yemen’s acting WHO representative.

Sucha Nuntaworanuch 

ID. 4907640165