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09. 11. 09. - 16:00

Swine flu closes Vorarlberg secondary school

By Lisa Chapman

A Vorarlberg secondary school was shut today (Mon) after students came down with suspected swine flu.

People’s Party (ÖVP) provincial health councillor Markus Wallner said more than a quarter of students and some teachers had become ill at the Lustenau-Kirchdorf secondary school.

There have been 72 confirmed cases in the province.

He said the school would remain closed for the entire week while health authorities carefully monitored the situation there.

Wallner added there had been an increase in swine flu cases at a primary school in Reuthe in the Bregenzerwald region but it had not been large enough to cause the school to be closed.

Wallner claimed the vaccination network in the province was functioning well and there was enough vaccine for everyone who wanted.

He said 11 per cent of health-care personnel or around 300 people had been vaccinated and everyone in risk groups should also receive a vaccination.

Meanwhile, a Vienna primary school has been closed amid fears of a swine flu outbreak among students, it emerged today.

Directors at the private Piarist "St. Thekla" primary school took the decision after consultation with a virologist after some of its 250 students became sick. The school is expected to remain closed until at least Friday.

The move comes after authorities at a primary school in Pirka southwest of Graz, Styria, closed a class for a week earlier this month and an entire school in Lienz, East Tyrol, was shut down for a week when 26 students were struck down with suspected swine flu.

Another critically-ill person from South Tyrol, a 39-year-old man with swine flu, was admitted to Innsbruck University Clinic last Friday, but his condition improved over the weekend, according to doctors.

An 11-year-old girl from South Tyrol, Italy, hospitalised in Innsbruck with swine flu died recently after 10 days in intensive care. The girl was the first person in Austria to die from swine flu. She had been at Innsbruck Children’s Clinic since 23 October.

And a young pregnant woman who was recently hospitalised at Vienna’s Hanusch Hospital with a serious case of swine flu has given birth.

The hospital said over the weekend that she had given birth during the 24th or 25th week of her pregnancy early last Friday. The child is being treated in intensive care and the condition of the mother is stable but still serious.

Meanwhile President Heinz Fischer was vaccinated against swine flu this morning.

The president said: "I have been informed the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and it is the sensible thing to do."

Swine flu vaccinations for the general public began this morning throughout Austria. Pregnant women and the chronically ill should be sure to be vaccinated, the Health Ministry said, but other, healthy individuals should also do so. Vaccinations of 280,000 medical personnel had begun two weeks ago.

Health-insurance funds will cover the cost of the vaccinations except for a fee of 4.90 Euros a dose. Doctors recommend that people receive two doses of the vaccine three weeks apart.

Austrian Times

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