New flu cases climb among Japan high school students
(For more Reuters stories on swine flu, click on [nFLU]) (Updates number affected)
TOKYO, May 17 (Reuters) - The number of cases of H1N1 flu in Japan climbed to 44 on Sunday with the disease spreading mainly among high school students in western Japan, many of whom have not travelled abroad, a Health Ministry official said.
Japan has now confirmed 40 cases in Hyogo and Osaka prefectures, 37 of which are among high school students, said ministry official Keiichiro Suemasa.
That comes on top of four previous cases among people returning from abroad.
The ministry has been able to confirm that 24 of the students have not been abroad, Suemasa said.
Kyodo News reported that around 570 schools in the two prefectures have decided to suspend classes in the wake of the latest flu cases.
The World Health Organisation said on Saturday it was closely monitoring the situation in Japan. It raised its pandemic alert on April 29 to 5 on a scale of 6, meaning a pandemic is imminent. Proof the disease was spreading in a region outside North America, where it originated, would trigger an increase to 6. [ID:nLG580439]
Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said on Saturday authorities would try to determine who had been in close contact with infected students and take steps such as asking such people to stay at home in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus.
The new virus is behaving much like a seasonal influenza strain -- spreading rapidly and causing mainly mild symptoms. (Reporting by Hugh Lawson and Chris Gallagher)
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