19 October 2009 / TODAY'S ZAMAN WITH WIRES, İSTANBUL
An inquiry that followed Wednesday's outbreak of swine flu cases among elementary school students attending the Bilkent Laboratory & International School has shown that 32 students were infected by the H1N1 virus, the Ministry of Health announced on Saturday.
The Ankara elementary school was closed for a week, starting Wednesday, after doctors confirmed several students had contracted swine flu and hospitalized them. The school was disinfected by teams from the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality and the Ankara Provincial Directorate of Agriculture. Two modes of transmission are believed to be behind the spread of the swine flu in the school. The first is a student who recently attended a summer program in Scotland, while the second is a class trip to Cappadocia following which several students fell ill.The number of confirmed swine flu cases increased gradually until yesterday, when the total number was placed at 32. Of these, 27 are students, four are parents and one is a teacher. The Ministry of Health also announced that the patients are doing well. Minister of Education Nimet Çubukçu said on Friday that all elementary school students will soon receive a swine flu vaccine. So far, 524 confirmed cases of swine flu have been reported in Turkey. Of these, 164 involved Turkish nationals while the rest were foreigners. None of the cases have been fatal.
