People wear masks at the PetroVietnam building in Ho Chi Minh City.

Thirty-one new influenza A (H1N1) cases were detected Thursday with the north-central province of Thanh Hoa Province registering its first one and the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai recording two more patients.

The Thanh Hoa Center for Preventive Health said the first H1N1 case in the province was a 22-year-old woman from the eponymous town who had arrived here on Monday on a train from Ho Chi Minh City.

She was admitted to Thanh Hoa Town General Hospital on the same day with symptoms of fever, cough and sneezing. Later tests showed she had contracted the swine flu, as the virus is also known.

Health authorities in Gia Lai Province Thursday reported the first three H1N1 cases in the province were students who had returned home from schools in Ho Chi Minh City.

The provincial Center for Preventive Health said two cases from Mang Yang District and Pleiku Town were students of HCMC’s Nguyen Khuyen Private High School. The third case was reported to be from an as of yet unidentified private school in HCMC.

The center said 49 other samples had been sent to the Tay Nguyen Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Dak Lak Province and were awaiting results.

The Ministry of Health on Thursday reported the 31 new cases included nine in the south, 12 in the north and 10 in the Central Highlands. 244 of the total 794 cases have been discharged from hospitals, including 61 Thursday, while the rest were being treated under quarantine and had not developed serious complications.

Nguyen Tran Hien, head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said H1N1 has begun to spread among crowds at public places.

He recommended people with flu-like symptoms and of higher-risk groups should be examined at medical facilities to prevent serious complications. These included pregnant women and people with chronic diseases, including lung and heart diseases, diabetes, obesity and AIDS.

Hien also advised people to strictly observe hygienic habits including washing hands regularly with soap and avoiding unnecessary visits to public places, rather than wearing masks while going out.

H1N1 fears have led to a drastic increase in the buying of masks over the past days in Ho Chi Minh City, with prices soaring to four times the normal.

Other countries in the Southeast Asia have reported an increase in the number of H1N1 cases, with three deaths out of 2,668 in the Philippines, five deaths out of 1,217 in Singapore, four deaths among 1,266 in Malaysia, one death from 444 in Indonesia and one death among 113 in Laos.

Thai authorities on Wednesday announced another 21 H1N1 fatalities, raising the death toll in to 65, AFP reported Thursday.

Across the kingdom, 30 women and 35 men have been killed by the H1N1 virus in 27 of its 76 provinces, a public health ministry statement said.

Of these victims, 41 had underlying diseases such as heart problems, diabetes or kidney failure, the ministry said, while the other 24 were admitted to hospital too late to be saved.

Thailand’s cabinet on Tuesday earmarked an additional US$13.2 million to combat H1N1 flu as the number of infections climbed to an estimated 500,000.

Taiwan’s health authorities Thursday reported the island’s first death of a patient suffering from H1N1 flu.

Source: TN, Agencies