S. Korea confirms 92 more flu cases

(ATTN: CHANGES headline, RECASTS lead, UPDATES with details throughout)
SEOUL, July 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's health authorities said Saturday that
they have confirmed 92 more cases of influenza A and will discontinue counting
the total number of flu infections here amid the rapid spread of the virus.
The new patients, including 28 people from a high school, an elementary school
student and a staff member with an international choir competition, tested
positive for the H1N1 virus after showing flu-like symptoms, the Ministry for
Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said in an emailed statement.
A teacher and 27 third-graders in a high school in Gyeonggi Province, south of
the country's capital Seoul, were confirmed to be infected with the new influenza
virus, the ministry said. They have not gone abroad or been in contact with other
confirmed patients, it noted.
The elementary student was believed to have contracted the disease through
contact with other recently confirmed patients in school. The staff member worked
for a choir that recently canceled part of its schedule due to the spread of the
virus among foreign participants, the ministry said.
As of Saturday morning, a total of 142 people remain in isolation for treatment,
with the other confirmed patients having been discharged from hospitals as they
showed no further flu symptoms.
South Korea has been relatively insulated from the global pandemic, which has
claimed hundreds of lives since the disease was first identified in April.
No deaths have been reported here but concerns are growing that the disease may
become more widespread as the number of reported infections is rising fast.
The ministry has therefore determined it is meaningless to track the number of
infected people.
"The countermeasures against the new flu may change into normal disease plans for
coping with seasonal flu," Jeon Byung-ryul from the Korea Center for Disease
Control and Prevention.
In a precautionary move, the government earlier said it has set aside 174.8
billion won (US$134.4 million) to secure enough vaccines to inoculate around 27
percent of the nation's population against the flu virus. The vaccines will be
available beginning in November, ahead of the winter flu season, it added.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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