4 theSun | WEDNESDAY MAY 27 2009

news without borders

Airport scanners
‘useless’ in flu fight
SYDNEY: The thermal imaging scan-
ners deployed in airports worldwide
to spot travellers running high tem-
peratures associated with influenza
are “literally useless”, an Australian
researcher said yesterday.
Claire Hooker, coordinator of the
medical humanities programme in
Sydney University, said around 120
million people passed the
scanners during the Se-
A (H 1 N1)
vere Acute Respiratory
ZA Syndrome (SARS)
outbreak that began
remind the public of the dangers of
influenza infections.
“With SARS, I don’t know that the
thermal scanners actually picked up
any cases,” Hampson, head of Aus-
tralia’s Influenza Specialist Group,
said. He said not everyone infected
with flu has a temperature and that
those with a fever and capable of in-
fecting others would not necessarily
be picked up by the scanners.
Hampson said only the seriously
ill would be spotted, and by that time
their symptoms would be obvious to

INFLUEN

HO
in 2003 but only 26 themselves and to fellow travellers.

TLINE
suspected cases Infectious diseases expert Peter
were detected and Collignon said health authorities
only a few of those were scare-mongering over swine
tested positive. flu because it was no worse than the

03

00
-8
881 00/3 “As far as I’m
02 aware, and I have
spoken to a lot of people,
these thermal scanners are
literally useless,” Hooker told The
Australian newspaper.
Commenting on Hooker’s view,
World Health Organisation adviser
Alan Hampson agreed that the ef-
fectiveness of the equipment was
suspect and might only serve to
normal flu-season strain.
“To really be a problem for people,
it’s got to readily spread from person
to person,” the Australian National
University’s Collignon said.
“Now this one does do that, but
on top of that it’s got to be more ag-
gressive or virulent than the current
strains we have circulating repeat-
edly every winter, and this one is not
that.” – dpa

The following day, labo- The authorities in Puerto

briefs
US swine flu
deaths rise to 12
CHICAGO: A Chicago
resident has died from swine
flu, local media reported
yesterday, bringing the total
US fatalities linked to the
A(H1N1) virus to 12.
“With as many cases of
H1N1 influenza that have
been reported in Illinois, we
have been concerned that
there would be fatalities,”
said Dr Damon Arnold, direc-
tor of the state’s public health
department.
A New York woman in her
50s was the nation’s 11th
victim, officials there said
Sunday.
The worldwide death toll
for swine flu reached 97 yes-
terday with the new deaths
in North America. The latest
United Nations World Health
Organisation tally recorded
12,515 confirmed cases of
A(H1N1) across 46 countries.
More than 6,700 cases
have been reported in the
United States, according to
the Centres for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention. – AFP
Second Canadian
dies of swine flu
OTTAWA: A 44-year-old To-
ronto man has become the
second person in Canada
to die of swine flu, health
officials said yesterday, as
the latest figures showed
805 cases nationwide.
The victim, with a
“chronic pre-existing medi-
cal condition,” died on May
23, said Ontario’s acting
chief medical officer David
Williams in a statement.
ratory testing confirmed he
had contracted the H1N1
virus. It is, however, not
clear what role the virus
played in the fatality, said
Williams.
A woman in western
Alberta province became
the first person in Canada
to succumb to the disease
last month. – AFP
Hongkong reports
two more cases
HONGKONG: Hongkong
officials yesterday confirmed
two new cases of swine flu,
raising the city’s total number
of infections to nine.
The two patients, a
four-year-old boy and his
18-month-old sister, arrived
on a flight from New York
on Sunday, the city’s health
department said, appealing
for other passengers on the
plane to come forward.
The latest cases came
nearly three weeks after of-
ficials here confirmed Asia’s
first case of the A(H1N1)
virus, sparking a week-long
quarantine for around 300
hotel guests and staff in the
city. – AFP
First case in
Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico):
Puerto Rico yesterday re-
ported its first confirmed
case of H1N1 swine flu – a
39-year-old man who had
returned from a week-long
eastern Caribbean cruise.
The Dominican Republic
said it was stepping up
testing of people with flu
symptoms after a Russian
tourist who had spent 12
days at Punta Cana, the
country’s premier beach
resort, was detected with
the virus after he returned
home.
Rico, a US Caribbean terri-
tory, said they were check-
ing on the persons with
whom the Puerto Rican
man confirmed with the
virus had been in contact
after he returned from
the May 10 to 17 cruise.
– Reuters
Ecuador closes
NY consulates
QUITO: Ecuador has closed
its two New York consulates
for the week because an of-
ficial there has a suspected
case of swine flu, the South
American country said yes-
terday.
“The Ecuadorian official
who has flu symptoms has
to rest,” the foreign ministry
said in a statement.
Two people have died in
New York from the A(H1N1)
virus and several schools
have closed temporarily in a
bid to halt the outbreak.
According to the latest
figures, 24 cases of swine
fl u have been confi rmed in
Ecuador, where last month
officials declared a state
of emergency to mobilise
the army and health care
system to fight the disease.
- AFP
19 cases in
Argentina
BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s
confirmed swine flu cases
jumped to 19 yesterday,
with 13 of the cases linked
to a student in the capital
who had recently travelled
to the United States, health
officials said.
Authorities said they
would shutter two schools
in Buenos Aires and two
just outside the capital for
two weeks in a bid to halt
the spread of the A(H1N1)
virus outbreak. – AFP