JINAN, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health departments
said Thursday more people were put under quarantine while the two citizens who
were confirmed to have contracted A/H1N1 this week were recovering swiftly.
The photo taken on May 13, 2009 from
video shows the confirmed A/H1N1 patient surnamed Lv (R) at an ICU of the
Jinan Infectious Disease Hospital in Jinan, east China's Shandong
Province. China's Ministry of Health confirmed Wednesday the 19-year-old
student surnamed Lv who returned from Canada last week has tested positive
for the A/H1N1 influenza. (Xinhua/Fan Changguo) Photo Gallery>>>
Health authorities in east China's Shandong Province
put 30 people under home or hospital quarantine as of 2 p.m. Thursday to check
for symptoms of A/H1N1 influenza, said the provincial health department at a
news briefing held Thursday.
The 30 people, consisting of 27 passengers and three
train service workers, were in close contact in a Beijing-Jinan train with a
male resident of Shandong who health officials said Wednesday had tested
positive for A/H1N1 flu. They didn't show any symptoms of the disease.
The provincial health authorities are seeking the
remainder 13 other passengers who were in the same car of train D41, from
Beijing to the provincial capital of Jinan, Monday night.
After the man who was only identified by his family
name as Lu was diagnosed, Shandong Province declared China's first A/H1N1 flu
health emergency at about 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Wang Suilian, vice governor of the eastern province,
said Shandong declared the second-level health emergency, which will involve
many departments coordinating to contain the disease and keep the public
informed.
A health official surnamed Zhang said that the
second-degree emergency declaration was the highest-level response available to
provincial governments. A first-degree emergency declaration would be up to the
central government.
Shandong's flu case, the second known case on the
Chinese mainland, involved a 19-year-old student surnamed Lu who arrived in
Beijing from Canada May 8 in a flight labeled AC029 and traveled to Jinan three
days later.
Lu was hospitalized Monday. Apart from a sore throat,
Lu was recovering with a normal body temperature, and showed no other symptoms
of discomfort such as headache, coughing or a runny nose Thursday, said Li
Zhongjun, spokesman for Shandong Provincial Health Department.
Lu is in an isolation ward in the Jinan Hospital of
Infectious Diseases.
According to Li, Lu is receiving antiviral medication
-- Tamiflu and traditional Chinese medicine -- in accordance with suggestions
given by medical experts from the Chinese Ministry of Health.
Apart from Lu, Shandong has not reported other new
A/H1N1 flu suspected or confirmed cases.
Shandong health authorities said they had reached
four of the 45 passengers who were in the same flight AC029 as Lu as of 2 p.m.
Thursday. The four passengers were all quarantined and reported normal
temperatures.
Search for other passengers in the flight is ongoing.
Zong Lin, chief of the disease control and prevention
section of the Shandong Provincial Health Bureau, said health officials were
sending text messages and running notices on TV to find the remaining
passengers.
Health authorities in Hebei Province, a neighbor of
Shandong, are also busy with seeking 22 passengers who reportedly were in the
same train carriage as Lu but got off at stops inside Hebei or on the juncture
of the two provinces before the train reached its final destination in Jinan. No
progress has been reported in this front thus far.
Bao, the Chinese mainland's first A/H1N1 flu case,
who has been kept at Chengdu Infectious Diseases Hospital for isolation and
medical treatment for five days in Sichuan Province, southwest China, is also
recovering fast.
All 147 passengers who had been exposed to Bao on
Northwest Airlines flight NW029 from Tokyo to Beijing, had been contacted by the
Beijing Health Department, said the department Wednesday.
Tian Ming, vice president of Chengdu Infectious
Diseases Hospital, said Thursday that the time for Bao to be discharged from the
hospital was not decided yet.
"Though he shows normal temperature, eats normally,
and is in good mood," said Tian, "A/H1N1 flu is a new virus strain, the medical
experts panel need to carry out a comprehensive review over Bao's recovery
before a specific date could be given for him to be discharged from the
hospital."
Tian disclosed that as of midday Thursday, 126 people
who had contact with Bao had been put under quarantine at a local camp in
Chengdu, while two other people who were said to be in the same flight with the
confirmed A/H1N1 flu case in Shandong had also been quarantined. There are no
reports of flu symptoms with them.
In the meantime, health authorities in China's Shanxi
and Henan provinces said Thursday they quarantined 16 people who had exposed to
Bao or Lu.
Beijing Health Department said Thursday evening as of
5 p.m. Thursday the department had quarantined 426 people and 131 had been
released while the other 286 are still under medical observation in four hotels.
Beijing launched three search campaigns to look for
the people who contacted with the three cases in Hong Kong, Sichuan and
Shandong.
The department said it had appointed 38 medical
institutions, which have the capability to set up flu examinations centers in 96
hospitals to examine any suspect flu patients.
Thirteen people from Mexico and Canada were removed
from quarantine from Beijing You'an Hospital on Thursday, said Li Ning, head of
the hospital.
"We released them after the tests. The foreigners
said the medical examinations were understandable," Li said.
The panic caused by confirmation of the two A/H1N1
flu patients in China has helped boost sales of face masks and some traditional
Chinese medicine (TCM) with antiviral function, such as Banlangen, a kind of
crystal powder made of a medicinal herb bearing the same name and commonly
prescribed for treating the common cold in China.
Qiu Xiaolin, an administrative personnel with
Tongrentang Pharmacy on Zongfu Road in Chengdu City, capital of Sichuan
Province, said there had been long queues of local residents to buy antiviral
TCM at his store each day since Monday.
"We now sell 2,000 boxes of Banlangen and 400 face
masks each day, comparing 100 boxes of Banlangen and 20 face masks daily before
Monday," said Qiu, "No worry, we have reserved a good stock of those materials."
BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Health
confirmed Wednesday a man who returned from Canada last week has tested positive
for the A/H1N1 influenza.
The case, the second of its kind on the Chinese
mainland, involved a 19-year-old student surnamed Lv who arrived in Beijing from
Canada on May 8 and traveled to Jinan, provincial capital of Shandong, three
days later. Full story
BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- A 19-year-old Chinese student
who has been quarantined as the Chinese mainland's second suspected case of
A/H1N1 influenza is "recovering with a normal body temperature," China's Health
Ministry said Wednesday.
Final A/H1N1 test results of the man, surnamed Lv, were
still not available yet, said a statement on the ministry's website. Full story
TIANJIN, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The girlfriend of China's
second confirmed A/H1N1 patient was quarantined Wednesday, but she has shown no
symptoms of the virus, the health department of Tianjin Municipality has
announced.
The 17-year-old woman surnamed Zhang traveled from
Toronto, Canada, with the flu carrier surnamed Lv on Air Canada flight AC029 on
May 8. They separated when they arrived in Beijing and she took a private car
sent by her parents to take her home to Tianjin on Sunday. Full story
BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- A total of 63 passengers
entering China showed fever or other flu-like symptoms from Sunday to Monday,
said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine Tuesday.
Their cases have been handed to local health departments
for further observation or treatment, the ministry said. Full story
HONG KONG, May 13 (Xinhua) -- A man arriving in Hong Kong
on Monday from the United States may have been infected with the A/ H1N1 flu
virus, local media reported Wednesday.
Samples taken from the man showed "slightly positive"
signs of infection in preliminary test and the Hong Kong University is doing
further examination. The man is now in a local infectious disease hospital, Hong
Kong's public broadcaster RTHK said. Full story
CHENGDU, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese mainland's first
confirmed A/H1N1 patient who was only identified by the family name Bao is
recovering, said He Jun, spokesman of Chengdu City Health Department in Sichuan
Province, Tuesday.
"Bao's life signs are stable: normal temperature,
alleviated symptoms, lighter coughing after three days' medication and care by
medical workers from the Health Ministry, Sichuan Province and Chengdu City," He
said at a news briefing held by Chengdu City Government Tuesday. Full story
