Health Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu visits a student quarantined at the Ngo Thoi Nhiem High School in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam’s health minister confirmed Monday the spread of influenza A (H1N1) had expanded to the community level as two schools were shut down after several students and staff tested positive for the virus.

The minister also said that this development had been anticipated by the ministry and that residents should not be overanxious.

Most of the patients had fully recovered and been discharged from hospitals, he told Thanh Nien as he was inspecting quarantine work at the Ngo Thoi Nhiem High School.

The school was isolated on Sunday after several students and teachers tested positive for the H1N1 virus.

Nguyen Van Chau, director of the HCMC Department of Health, confirmed the high school outbreak stemmed from Pham Hoang Dong, a grade 10 student who had visited his home at Viet Kieu Hamlet in Dong Nai Province before returning and passed on the virus to others.

Up to 23 people in Viet Kieu Hamlet have tested positive for the H1N1 virus so far, including five overseas Vietnamese returning home from the US on July 10 who were identified as the source of infection.

Pham Thi Thuy Vinh, principal of the Ngo Thoi Nhiem High School, on Monday reported they had first detected flu-like symptoms in five students and a teacher last Friday and subsequent tests at Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital confirmed they had contracted the H1N1 flu.

The school was closed on Sunday and authorities have set up a treatment ward there to quarantine patients whose number had increased to 41 as of Monday, as well as 80 other students having had direct contact with the infected.

Chau said the school has a total of 900 students in the summer session, of which more than 600 had returned to their hometowns in nearby provinces before the school was isolated.

Minister Trieu instructed the school and the city’s health department to inform these students and their local health agencies to make necessary quarantine arrangements.

Works have to be carried out immediately to prevent further spread of the virus in the community, he said.

Police and health authorities in Dong Nai are identifying the bus that carried grade 10 student Dong from his home to the school to encourage quarantine for other passengers on the bus.

Second school closed

Authorities in Dong Nai Province on Monday ordered the Suoi Cat Commune Kindergarten to close down and be quarantined after 19-month-old Vo Minh Nhat tested positive for the H1N1 virus.

Nhat, who also hails from Viet Kieu Hamlet, was identified to have had direct contact with 34 other children at the kindergarten, who were also placed under quarantine.

The Dong Nai Center for Preventive Health Monday convened an urgent meeting to discuss ways to fight the disease and limit its spread.

The center reported a total of 39 cases have been detected so far in the province.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health Monday confirmed 25 new cases, raising the country’s total to 408 without any fatalities.

The new cases included 19 in the southern, five in the central and one in the northern region.

The ministry also said 311 of the patients have been discharged from hospitals after full recovery, while the other 97 were being treated under quarantine. They were in stable health, it added.

Other countries in Southeast Asia have also reported an increase in H1N1 cases, including the Philippines with three deaths among 2,668 cases; Singapore with one death among 1,217 cases and Brunei with one death in 224 cases.

In Thailand, the Ministry of Health has confirmed 25 deaths among 4,057 cases. Several schools, kindergartens and vocational centers in the kingdom have been temporarily closed to prevent further spread of the virus among the population.

Dong Nai shuts down kindergarten after toddler tests positive for H1N1 virus

Reported by Thanh Tung