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Official: No swine flu case in NW Chinese province

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-28 23:47

XI'AN -- Tests showed that the schoolchildren in China's northwestern province of Shaanxi were not infected by swine flu, a local official said here Tuesday.

"They just caught a cold and they had completely recovered as of April 22," Liu Shaoming, head of the provincial health administration, told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

Liu's remark came after the World Health Organization's China representative Hans Troedsson said earlier Tuesday in Beijing that the Chinese authorities were investigating "several suspected cases" of swine flu in Shaanxi.

Full coverage:  Swine Flu Outbreak Related readings:  Swine flu spreads to Middle East, Asia-Pacific  Prevent spread of the swine flu virus  China's Health Ministry on alert for swine flu  Beijing on alert for swine flu

Medical examinations by the disease control center in Xi'an, the provincial capital, confirmed the sick children had caught B-type influenza, which is common in humans.

A total of 60 schoolchildren and three teachers at the Qianwei township junior high school in Lantian County, showed symptoms of high temperature from April 14 to April 16.

The local disease control center reported the situation to the municipal health bureau of Xi'an, which immediately dispatched officials to the site.

All those who were ill were sent home as soon as they felt sick and none were hospitalized as their symptoms were slight.

The school of 727 students was closed as of April 14 and classes resumed on April 22. No new cases have been found since at the school.

Speaking at a press conference after meeting with Chinese Health Ministry officials over the country's preparations in the event of a swine flu outbreak, Troedsson acknowledged appropriate actions Chinese authorities had taken in isolating students at home and closing the school. He also praised the openness and transparency of the Chinese government in reporting avian influenza cases to the WHO.