Sunday, 5th July 2009 - 19:23CET

Gozitan teenager confirmed to have swine flu

A Gozitan teenager has been confirmed to have the A (H1N1) virus, raising the total of swine flu confirmed cases to 19, an official spokesman said today.

The authorities are tracing her movements over the past few days. All cases so far have been imported but authorities are trying to establish whether this could be the first case of local transmission.

The girl is being treated in quarantine at home. All cases confirmed so far have been mild.

Next article • Works on SmartCity Malta 'progressing as planned'

Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Monday, November 23, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

Karl Farrugia (on 7/7/09)

Stop being silly everyone. you're making it a MUCH bigger deal than it is. its a flu. its all over the world - if its not uk or spain, it will be italy, greece or any other country where someone happens to be coming from. get over it. you're not gonna die. feverish at most. if so, call your doc and stay home. end of story. some people love being drama queens!

J.Brownie (on 6/7/09)

@Clint Muscat
Surely, panic won't help in any situation including addressing swine flu but reducing the issue to simply a scare campaign for commercial purposes is an over exageration, which can foolishly make people neglecting common hygene principles. To this gent I say that it is true that swine flu is being successfully treated in the majority of cases but some deaths have resulted too, so the proverbial 'prevention is better than cure ' has a place here as well.

Chris Goodwin (on 6/7/09)

@ John Sultana i'm coming to Malta tommorow so shall I wear a big sign to warn you,and all others posting here,to give me a wide berth? I'm feeling very unwelcome at the moment. Unbelievable!

John Sultana (on 6/7/09)

Reading these comments and listening to the Malta Health authorities its obvious that this virus swine/flu is brought in to Malta firstly the visitors from say the UK mostly, Spain and also the Maltese who just returned from abroad, ofcourse alot of tourists when coming to spend their summer holidays do no just sit in their hotels, so naturally most will be visiting restaurants,pubs and music festivals, and this is when we the Maltese tend to visit and mixing with these people., but its a free country and we all know that money making businesses are only worried about making a living and not the country's Health situation at this moment in time.

matthew azzopardi (on 6/7/09)

@all
and the authorities have urged airport frontliners to wash their hands with soap frequently!!!
hurray that puts our mind at rest now!!

Clint Muscat (on 6/7/09)

Mhux qed tindunaw li Swine Flu qed tigi uzata bhala kummenrc!! Hawn min ga qed jordna l medicina ghaliha. Qed naghmlu ghageb ghalxejn jahasra mhix xi marda serja anzi simili hafna tal-influenza normali u tigi mfejjqa bejn 5 - 7 ijiem.

Sakemm kollox ikun taht kontroll m ghandniex ghalxiex ninkwetaw. Zmien ikrah, bir-ricessjoni u issa b din il pandemija globali qed naffacaw krizijiet ekonomici. U jekk ma noqghodux attenti se mmorru l bahar fit-turizmu. Hafna mil-lukanda ghandom rekord negattiv bhal issa ta kemm qed jigu nies u l-ekonomija taghna tiddependi hafna fuq it-turizmu.

Roderick Marmara (on 6/7/09)

Dear Mr. Abela,

I travel between London, Geneva and Paris on a weekly basis and can assure you that none of the international airports have implemented a monitoring/surveillance process for the Swine Flu. It is business as usuall. I am more concerned when departing and not arriving because if one of the travellers have the flu most likely all those on board the aircraft will end up having the flu as well.

Joe Curmi (on 6/7/09)

Could the authorities say from where she is so that people could know whether they had any contact with her?

Mandy Farrugia (on 6/7/09)

I don’t think that the necessary caution is being taken by the authorities. If all the cases are coming from abroad preventive measures should b taken by the airport.

I believe that if it is not possible to test people at the airport, that at least anyone leaving or entering the country should be tested up to 24 hours before he travels. I know that the virus can be conducted after the test is taken, but at least we would be minimising the risk a lot.

edwin formosa (on 6/7/09)

For the simple reason that no one of your fellow passengers "were taken ill," as in the case of the two Sicilian passengers in catania Mr tony abela.

Paul Attard Baldacchino (on 6/7/09)

@tony Abela. Common Tony, you know how it works. First we need enough infections. Around 5,000 I guess would do maybe...

Eric Gahn (on 6/7/09)

@Tony Abela: It depends. If H1N1 comes from a Schengen country then it can walk in freely dude. It's the law!

Bernice Bruno (on 5/7/09)

No,nothing is happening. Everything under control. Just avoid large crowds but you can go to concerts.Just follow what the authorities orders.It's just a flu like all the others.Those listed underneath are all ghoggieba.
Akon postpones concerts over swine flu.
Jonas Brothers Push Back Concert Over Swine Flu Concerns.
Swine Flu Causes Concert Cancellations In Mexico.
Young Jeezy Postpones Concert Over Swine Flu Concerns.
Cornelius concert tour felled by swine flu and so on.
But not to worry because in Malta we are special,very special.

John Meilaq (on 5/7/09)

@Tony Abela

Very Well said. The swine flu can easily run into endemic and pandemic stages if the authorities are not carefull.. Malta is a very small island and I will not be surprised if we will have more than three hundred cases in the next two weeks.

Gonzi PN please wake up and do something drastic about checking immigrants at the airport and sea terminal and if need be prepare a quarantine area in both places.

Albert Bezzina (on 5/7/09)

H1N1 arriving in Malta was inevitable, it was only a matter of time and it did arrive. It has been shown all over the world that containment was not possible. It therefore follows that it does not make much difference if new cases are imported or not. Numerically it will only make a difference of a few weeks before most of the population would have been exposed to the virus.

Sharon Farrugia (on 5/7/09)

totally agree with you Tony

tony abela (on 5/7/09)

What a contrast. In Catania the airport authorities held the Air Malta crew in quarantine as it was noted that two passengers were looking ill and later proved to have A (H1N1) virus.

In Malta "All cases so far have been imported".

I arrived by air last night and I did not see one soul from the moment I entered the Arrival Hall until I walked out from the Baggage Claim Area.

Do we need surveillance by the Health Authorities or we shall keep importing more cases as if nothing is happening?

Gozitan teenager confirmed to have swine flu

Comments

Poll

Fun Stuff

	15 °C
Clear Feels like: 14.5°C UV Index: 3