Australian swine flu count rises

The number of confirmed swine flu cases in Australia has risen to 11, with teenagers in South Australia and Victoria the latest to catch the virus.That figure could jump again on Friday, with a man who arrived on a flight from Canada to Sydney hospitalised with swine flu symptoms.

The man, believed to be in his 40s, was assessed by health professionals at the airport before being taken to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for tests.

Health officials are meeting to decide whether to move swine flu containment measures up a notch following two recently-confirmed cases in the past few hours.

"There is no cause for alarm but we do need to treat this as a serious matter," said Health Minister Nicola Roxon.

A 17-year-old boy from Melbourne's northern suburbs is the most recent confirmed case of the disease; he became ill last weekend and remained at home until yesterday, when he returned to school.

Source of infection unclear

He has now been quarantined at home, and he and his family have been given a course of anti-viral drugs.

Authorities say his fellow students are unlikely to have caught the virus, but parents have been told to limit their children's social contact over the weekend, and to monitor them for flu-like symptoms.

Experts are working to find out how the teenager came to catch swine flu.

"He has not travelled recently, nor had any contact with any identified cases," Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews said.

"We are speaking to the family this morning to check on his movements and who he has been mixing with over the past week."

A 15-year-old girl from South Australia was confirmed as having the H1N1 virus overnight.

Family in quarantine

She had not been overseas recently, but had travelled interstate; SA Health is working with other health authorities to follow up people she had come into contact with.

SA Health says two of the girl's family members have exhibited mild respiratory symptoms and have been given anti-virals, with the whole family put into home isolation.

Her school, Eynesbury College, has been shut down for seven days, and authorities are asking all its students to stay at home as a precaution.

"We are asking all students from the school to remain in home isolation during the next seven days in order to ensure there is no spread of Human Swine Influenza in the community," Chief Public Health Officer Dr Stephen Christley.

"We are taking a cautious approach and this is not a decision taken lightly," he said.

"I understand this will be inconvenient for many parents and students, but it is vital that all possible measures are taken to delay the spread of the virus."

Dr Christley said students and teachers who become unwell with flu-like symptoms should seek advice from their doctor.

First person-to-person case

The number of cases in Victoria now stands at six, including three brothers who recently returned from a holiday in the United States.

A 10-year-old girl who had been in contact with one of the boys also has the virus - the first confirmed person-to-person case of H1N1 in Australia.

The two other Victorian patients are 25-year-old Melbourne man who flew in from Los Angeles on Tuesday, and a Mexican tourist.

A Sydney woman and her child, said to be aged under five, have also tested positive after arriving in Sydney on a flight from the United States last week.

The first case in Australia was that of a NSW woman in her 20s who was discovered to have the virus when she was in Brisbane last week.

At last count, the World Heath Organisation said 41 countries had officially reported 10,243 cases of swine flu, including 80 deaths.
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