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Three kids diagnosed with A (H1N1) following respite break in Britain

Three Belarusian children have been diagnosed with the A (H1N1) virus after a respite break in the United Kingdom, the Belarusian health ministry’s press office said in a statement on August 21.

The kids stayed in Britain under a charity program, traveling there as part of a group of Belarusian children.

They are being given “necessary” medical treatment; their condition is satisfactory, the press office said without giving additional details.

The cases bring the total number of A(H1N1) cases in Belarus to four. On August 19, the health ministry announced that the first A(H1N1) case had been confirmed in the country. The virus was diagnosed in a Chinese national. The man, who is studying for a postgraduate degree at Belarusian State University, returned from China to Belarus on August 10 and applied for medical assistance over flu-like symptoms two days later. The health ministry said that his medical condition was “satisfactory.”

Yury Fyodaraw, a departmental head at the health ministry, told BelaPAN that the kids “feel well,” with none of them developing any complications.

The children are currently in a hospital in their home city of Asipovichy in the Mahilyow region, he said, noting that people who might have contacted them were being examined.

The official reiterated the ministry’s appeal not to panic.

“Flu is not so dangerous as we previously thought,” he said. “People with it are treated like people with usual seasonal influenza. There are all necessary drugs for the treatment in Belarus.”

People diagnosed with A(H1N1) are hospitalized to prevent the spread of the virus, not because the disease is dangerous, Mr. Fyodaraw noted.

As for the world’s big death toll from the virus, the official said that part of the victims had just failed to receive “professional medical aid” in good time.

On August 19, Deputy Health Minister Valyantsina Kachan said that groups of children returning home after a respite break in countries hit with A(H1N1) outbreaks would be put into one-week quarantine.

The ministry’s list of problem countries includes Austria, Belgium, Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain.

More than 13,000 children who are scheduled to return to Belarus between August 23 and September 1 will be put into quarantine, according to Ms. Kachan.

About 1,800 people have died since the A(H1N1) virus was first uncovered in April, according to the latest update from the WHO issued this week.