LATEST: Toddler infected by mother, taking total cases to 124
SEREMBAN: Chung Hwa High School in Seremban is closed from Monday to July 6 after a Form 3 female student was confirmed to have been infected by her brother with the Influenza A (H1N1).
The girl, who developed fever and flu on Friday was sent for a medical check up and the results were confirmed by the Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital (TJH) Sunday evening.
The girl was believed to have been infected by her 22-year old brother who had returned for his semester break in Australia on Monday.
He is studying in one of the universities there.
School headmaster Sua Sin Zang said the school board had initially decided to quarantine the victim's 46 classmates and 14 teachers for a week.
"We had a meeting with the Health Department officials today (Sunday) and decided that the best thing to do is to close for a week.
"We have to take precautionary measures to ensure the safety of the other students and staff," he said when contacted.
The school had also directed students staying in its hostel to go home.
"The students returned after the weekend today but we told them to go back home. We just want to be safe," he said.
The girl and her brother, he said, are warded at TJH.
The school has 1,650 students and 80 teachers.
Sua said the school authorities would also have its premises cleaned before classes resume.
"We have also notified the Education Department for the temporary closure. This is in the best interest of all parties," he said.
Sua said the students would have to replace the six schooling days once the situation is back to normal. The school has classes six days a week.
The school is the fifth school to be closed in the country due to a local transmission of the flu.
The four others closed earlier have all reopened.
Meanwhile, Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said that a 15-month-old toddler, who was under home quarantine, has been infected with the flu, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 124.
Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said 12 new cases were reported as of Sunday morning, of which 11 were imported.
The toddler was the 17th local transmission case in the country.
Dr Ismail said the boy had no overseas travel history but his mother had visited Phuket and became the country’s 86th case.
"The child has no overseas travel history but got A(H1N1) within 24 hours. The boy started having fever and cough on June 25 and was admitted to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah the same day for investigation.
"He was confirmed to have A(H1N1) the following day. He is in stable condition and is being given anti-viral treatment," he said at a press conference here on Sunday.
The 12 new cases involved seven Malaysians, three Indonesians and two from the United States.
The 11 imported cases came from those who visited affected countries, including four from Melbourne, Australia, four from Jakarta, Indonesia, two from the United States and one from London, England.
Dr Ismail said this was the first time that they received imported cases from Jakarta.
He urged those under home quarantine to adhere to the Ministry’s 10 precautionary steps.
The ministry, he said, would be increasing the number of hotlines and introducing a new website specifically on A(H1N1) to relay information to the public.
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