Adianto P. Simamora and Andra Wisnu , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Fri, 07/03/2009 2:56 PM Headlines
The number of people in Indonesia suspected of having contracted influenza A H1N1 continued to increase on Thursday, with five new hospital admissions in North Sumatra and four in Bali.
Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, said the group of five had just returned from a holiday in Malaysia and Thailand.
"All five patients are still only suspect cases and are being monitored closely," hospital spokesman Atmawijaya said Thursday.
"We have isolated them in special rooms for swine flu and bird flu patients."
After returning to Medan on Tuesday, the patients were admitted to hospital on Wednesday afternoon with one of them suffering a high fever.
During their stay in Malaysia, the group had learned from local authorities that someone with a suspected case of influenza A H1N1 infection had been aboard their flight from Thailand, and they could have been exposed to the virus.
The five were in a relatively stable condition on Thursday and samples had been sent to the Health Ministry in Jakarta for laboratory tests, Luhur Soeroso, head of hospital's team of doctors handling influenza A H1N1 and H5N1 (bird flu) infections, said.
"We are treating this very seriously because these are the first *suspected* cases of H1N1 infection in Medan," Luhur said.
In Denpasar, Sanglah General Hospital announced Monday it had admitted four new patients believed to be infected with influenza A H1N1.
The four had recently arrived from Europe, the United States and Australia.
Previously, two Australian teens who had tested positive for the virus were released after showing signs of recovery.
Meanwhile, the health of 16 Indonesian students quarantined in a Singapore hospital had also improved and they were expected to return to Indonesia next week.
"The students are recovering well and we expect six of the 16 to be released, fully healthy, on Saturday," English First general manager Anders Bauer told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
He said that the remaining eight would be most likely to be released later on Monday or Tuesday.
There were eight confirmed cases of influenza A H1N1 virus infection and an "indeterminable" number of suspected cases in Indonesia as of Thursday, Jakarta Health Agency spokeswoman Tini Suryanti said.
Sulianti Saroso Hospital for Infectious Diseases in North Jakarta had admitted six people suspected of having contracted influenza A H1N1, Tini said.
"They are in isolation chambers, but they are all doing OK," she said in a telephone interview.
The Health Ministry and its regional agencies were working to shorten response times to prevent a possible outbreak, with Jakarta Health Agency preparing special ambulances and readying Sulianti Saroso as a target hospital for patients with suspected H1N1 infections.
"Swine flu may have a low mortality rate, but that doesn't mean we should let our guard down," Tini said.
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