Japanese boy 'was not infectious'

The Japanese boy who fell ill with swine flu after holidaying in Gozo could not have infected anyone while on the island because he left before showing symptoms, the health authorities said yesterday.

"You need to have symptoms to be infectious and since he was not symptomatic while on the island, he could not have infected anyone," Community Care Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea said.

He stressed that Malta was still free of the virus.

The Japanese boy was one of 30 confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu at a school in the western German city of Dusseldorf. The World Health Organisation raised its pandemic alert level to the maximum of six.

The local authorities are trying to determine whether the youngster, who was travelling with his father and three-year-old brother, stopped in other countries after leaving Gozo on May 24.

Mr Galea said that the possibility that the child was infected in Malta was "extremely remote if not impossible" because Malta had no reported cases.

After the German media mentioned a link between the case and Malta on Thursday, the Maltese Embassy in Germany yesterday issued a statement saying there were no cases on the island and the boy was asymptomatic while holidaying in Gozo.

Charmaine Gauci, who heads the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department, said the authorities were being extremely vigilant to ensure they were immediately alerted if the virus were to surface in Malta.

Three people whose symptoms were suspicious enough to deserve laboratory testing proved to be negative for the virus.

"We are erring on the side of caution," Public Health Regulation director general Ray Busuttil said.

Although on Thursday the WHO declared the first pandemic in 41 years, swine influenza is not considered a severe virus and the reported deaths - a total of 146 - were mostly among people who had underlying chronic conditions.

"Swine flu is of moderate intensity," Dr Gauci said.

Swine flu, which originated in Mexico earlier this year, is completely different from the dreaded avian influenza, which until recently was thought to cause the next influenza pandemic.

Dr Busuttil said the infection rate of swine flu was predicted at 25 per cent - the same as for the H5N1 avian flu. However, the mortality rate dropped from a staggering 50 to 60 per cent for bird flu to some two to three per cent.

According to data released by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, there were 294 new cases reported in the EU and the European Free Trade Area between 5 p.m. on Thursday and 5 p.m. yesterday.

Another 29 were reported in other European countries while Guatemala reported its first death and Morocco and the Occupied Palestine Territories reported their first cases.

Information leaflets are being distributed to all households. Information is also available on www.health.gov.mt/dsu.

Factbox 1

How to protect yourself from influenza...

• Wash your hands regularly with soapy water.

• Avoid hugs, kisses and handshakes.

• Wash your hands before touching your eyes, mouth or nose.

• Regularly clean surfaces, including door handles, with a normal cleaning product.

• Try to avoid contact with sick people.

.... and others.

• Cover your mouth with a disposable tissue when you cough or sneeze and dispose of the tissue.

• If you have flu symptoms stay at least one metre away from other people.

• Don't go to work, school or elsewhere if you have the flu.

Factbox 2

Highlights of swine flu's journey around the world

Mid-March 2009: The first cases of swine flu are reported in Mexico when 60 per cent of the population of La Gloria gets sick.

March 28: The first case is reported in the US when a nine-year-old Californian girl falls ill. More cases are reported in the US in subsequent days.

April 12: A 39-year-old woman dies of severe viral pneumonia in Mexico - this is believed to be the earliest swine flu fatality.

April 25: WHO chief Margaret Chan calls the influenza "a public health emergency of international concern".

April 27: The first cases are reported in Canada, Spain and the EU.

April 29: The WHO raises its pandemic level alert to phase five, sending a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent. A baby dies in Texas, in the first swine flu death outside Mexico.

May: More countries continue to report cases of swine flu.

June 3: The first case is reported in Africa.

June 11: The WHO raises its alert level to phase six, declaring the first full-blown influenza pandemic in 41 years.