The number of confirmed cases of severe swine flu in Taiwan rose by 10 yesterday, including a six-month-old girl, the Central Epidemics Command Center said yesterday.
Among the 10 new cases, five involved children under the age of 12, Centers for Disease Control Director-General Steve Kuo (郭旭崧) said. As of yesterday, confirmed fatalities from swine flu stood at seven, with 45 people still hospitalized.
Kuo said parents should wash their hands and change their clothes before holding a baby. Parents were also advised to refrain from taking their baby to crowded and confined areas.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
Parents who develop flu-like symptoms should wear a mask and avoid contact with their baby, Kuo said. Babies suffering from shortness of breath, drowsiness, or purple lips or skin must seek immediate medical assistance, he said.
Kuo said the government had not changed its policy of excluding infants six months old or younger from inoculation, as it is the international norm.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education reached a consensus with colleges and universities on Friday to apply its “325” class suspension policy to university freshmen amid fear of outbreaks on campuses.
Vice Minister of Education Lu Mu-lin (呂木琳) told reporters after a meeting with deans of student affairs of colleges and universities nationwide that classes for freshmen at universities and those for freshmen, sophomores and juniors at colleges had to be suspended for up to five days if two students within the same class are diagnosed with the swine flu within three days of each other.
The policy has been in effect at primary, junior high and high schools across the country since the new semester began on Monday last week.
Lu said medical or nursing schools could draw up their own class suspension standards after discussing the matter with academics and health experts.
Lu said colleges and universities should advise their students to stay at home if they are infected with the flu.
Schools should also establish a mechanism to report confirmed cases to the ministry, Lu said.
Ho Cho-fei (何卓飛), director of the ministry’s Department of Higher Education, said universities and colleges should provide thermometers to students living in dormitories so that they could monitor their health.
Schools are also required to provide housing for students infected with the flu but who are unable to return home, and to check on students regularly, Ho said.
Students who have developed flu symptoms should be babarred from taking part in school activities until 24 hours after the symptoms have disappeared, Ho said.
In related developments, the Kaohsiung City Education Bureau said 26 classes at 24 schools had been suspended because of the flu.
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