MaltaMedia.com

Confirmed Swine Flu cases in Malta have gone up to 11 the Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea said on Friday afternoon. Seven of the new cases were confirmed in the morning. All are responding well to treatment and none is seriously ill. All the cases were imported and there was no transmission of the virus in Malta.

The first cases of the H1N1 swine flu virus in Malta were confirmed among a group of 25 people who had travelled to Spain for five days. The group arrived in Malta last Tuesday 30th June. Two were confirmed on Thursday morning and two in the evening.

One of the travellers went to his doctor as he was feeling ill and his doctor recognised the symptoms of the H1N1 virus. The doctor informed the Department of Health who confirmed the presence of the virus. Another person in the same group was also found to have the same virus. This was confirmed by Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea on Thursday morning.

Swine flu has now spread across the world. More than 1 million people in the United States may have been infected with the new flu. The World Health Organisation has reported more than 67,000 confirmed cases and some 300 deaths worldwide have been reported. However the victims have often been found to have had underlying health problems.

Swine flu has shown itself to be responsive to both Tamiflu and Relenza, which are expected to be the first line of defence before a vaccine against the virus is available.

For more information one can call helpline 21324086 while an information leaflet was published and is available on the DOI website.

As soon as the first swine flu cases were confirmed in Malta on Thursday, Favourite Channel interviewed Dr Ray Busuttil, director general for public health, on the symptoms, prevention and care of the swine flu.

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