Vietnam detected 13 new influenza A (H1N1) cases Tuesday including the first one in Mekong Delta’s Hau Giang Province, raising the country’s tally to 248 with no deaths.

The patient in Hau Giang Province has been quarantined at a local general hospital and is doing well, said director Pham Thanh Khoi of the province’s Health Department.

In another case, a man arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport from Australia last Tuesday with his family. His eldest son was soon found with the flu and sent to the city-based Children’s Hospital No. 1.

Health centers across the province have received 4,000 Tamiflu tablets, which have so far proved effective against the flu.

Long An Province in the delta also reported its first suspected patient Tuesday as a first test on an overseas Vietnamese returning home last Friday proved positive.

An influenza A (H1N1) case is announced after two tests at different laboratories confirm the patient is carrying the virus.

The four cases in the central region are two Da Nang City residents who had come into physical contact with a patient coming from Thailand; one overseas Vietnamese in Hue city and another Hue resident who had physical contact with an overseas Vietnamese in HCMC.

Four of the eight new cases in HCMC are foreigners and the others are Vietnamese returning from abroad.

Since Vietnam’s first influenza A patient was discovered on May 31, 152 have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

Officials at Tan Son Nhat International Airport Tuesday found 16 passengers with flu symptoms and sent them to city hospitals for testing.

As high school graduates are gathering in Hanoi, HCMC and other large cities for the university entrance exams, the Health Ministry has asked them to maintain strict personal hygiene, eat well-cooked cooking and drink boiled water.

The ministry also required people at the flood-hit areas to keep even better hygiene to build resistance against what was formerly known as swine flu.

As of Tuesday, the virus had infected 94,512 people in 135 countries and territories, killing 429, the World Health Organization said.

Fellow ASEAN member Thailand has reported nine deaths and Brunei and the Philippines one each.

Source: TN, VNA