A medical worker checks the temperature of a patient at the Huashan Hospital, where a newly confirmed A/H1N1 influenza case is hospitalized, in Shanghai, east China, May 28, 2009. A 26-year-old Chinese female, arrived in Shanghai on May 23 on American Airlines flight AA289 from Chicago, became the second confirmed A/H1N1 flu case in Shanghai on Thursday. (Xinhua/Liu Ying) Photo Gallery>>>

    FUZHOU/SHANGHAI, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed A/H1N1 cases on the Chinese mainland rose to 15 on Thursday, after one more case each reported in eastern Fujian Province and Shanghai, while new suspected case each reported in Shanghai and Guangdong, health authorities said.

    The newly confirmed case in Fujian involved a 25-year-old Chinese male who arrived in Beijing Monday evening on Air China flight CA982 from New York and then flew to Fuzhou, capital of Fujian, on CA1821, the same day.

    He had a cough and sore throat early Tuesday and went to the Fuzhou No. 2 Hospital, where his temperature was measured at 37.5 degrees Celsius.

    He tested positive for A/H1N1 flu Wednesday by the Fujian Provincial Disease Control and Prevention Center and positive again Thursday by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

    The man, who was being treated at the Fuzhou Pulmonary Hospital, was in stable condition with a temperature of 37 degrees Celsius, the health bureau said.

    The bureau said 84 people had been exposed to him. In Fujian, 19 among the 23 exposed people in the province had been quarantined while the other four had not been found. Others were been sought nationwide.

    The Shanghai patient, a 26-year-old Chinese female, who was reported as suspected case Wednesday, had been tested positive to A/H1N1 by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said Chen Qiwei, spokesman for the municipal government, here on Thursday afternoon.

    She is the second confirmed case in Shanghai, Chen said.

    The patient, arrived in Shanghai on May 23 on American Airlines flight AA289 from Chicago, began to cough early Monday. Her temperature rose to 38 degrees Celsius early Tuesday, Chen said.

    Her parents and the driver of a taxi that took her to Huashan Hospital have been put under a one-week medical observation.

    Her temperature had dropped to 37.4 degrees Celsius and she had been in stable condition, Chen said.

    Shanghai reported Thursday one more suspected case, who took the same flight CA178 from Australia to Shanghai on May 23 with the city's first case.

    The patient, 22, male, Chinese nationality, studies in an Australian university. His temperature rose to 37.7 degrees Celsius at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday and he was tested positive to A/H1N1 by the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday, Chen said.

    He still needs a final review from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

    The other new suspected case was reported in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, Thursday afternoon.

    The suspected case involves a 28-year-old male Chinese American, who works in a hospital in New York, said the provincial health bureau.

    He took the flight OZ221 at 00:30 p.m. Saturday from New York to Incheon City in the Republic of Korea, and took OZ369 at 7:70 a.m. Sunday from Incheon to Guangzhou, the bureau said.

    He developed flu symptoms since Sunday and went to hospital Wednesday.

    He had been tested positive to A/H1N1 by the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and still needs a final check from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

    The provincial health authorities been seeking for people who had close contact with the patient.

    The 15 confirmed cases involve eight provinces and municipalities: five in Beijing, two each in Guangdong, Fujian, and Shanghai, and one each in Hunan, Shandong, Sichuan and Zhejiang.

    The two suspected cases are in Shanghai and Guangdong.

    As of Thursday, seven confirmed cases had been discharged from hospitals, which included a case in Fujian.

    The Fujian case, also China's youngest flu patient, a 22-month-old baby girl, was discharged from a hospital in east China's Fujian Province Thursday, the provincial health bureau said.

    The girl left the Fuzhou Pulmonary Hospital accompanied by her grandmother with the approval of the provincial health bureau.

    Zeng Guang, chief expert with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, warned on Thursday that as the confirmed cases were increasing, the possibility of domestic infection of the second generation A/H1N1 influenza virus was rising.

    Zeng said the public should not panic since good personal hygienic habit could effectively prevent the infection, in addition to the government preventive measures.

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