The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday that it was planning to fine schools and parents who do not follow the government's “325” rule for canceling classes when there is a cluster infection of A(H1N1) influenza.
The rule states that schools should suspend a class for five days whenever two students in the class are diagnosed with flu-like symptoms within three days.
“We are seeing more and more students with swine flu in the last two to three weeks. The number of student patients is increasing at a rate of approximately 20 percent each week, especially in northern Taiwan,” CDC spokesman Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said. “Schools or parents that do not follow the class cancelation procedure are one of the reasons for the epidemic.”
Chou said that based on the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Act (傳染病防治法), the CDC could issue a fine of between NT$3,000 and NT$15,000 if school authorities or parents disobeyed the protocol and be fined again if they repeat the violation.
“If a student has a fever, they simply need to stay at home, instead of going to school. It's that easy,” Chou said.
In related news, the CDC, quoting the Taipei County Government's health department, said a 19-year-old woman with cardiac problems and systemic lupus erythematosus became the nation's 27th death resulting from swine flu last Thursday.
The health department said that the victim checked into hospital on Sept. 22 with low blood pressure.
During her hospital stay, however, she was diagnosed with kidney stones and developed urinary tract infection, which led to bacterial septicemia and a fungal infection.
She later tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus, contracted pneumonia and died.
Another 10 patients were hospitalized because of swine flu fears yesterday, taking the total figure to 447, with 36 remaining in hospital as of press time.
The CDC said that the 10 patients were six males and four females. The youngest was a three-year-old boy in Taipei and the oldest was a 76-year-old man in Taipei.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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