A SECOND case of A(H1N1) influenza emerged in Myanmar last week when a 20-year-old man tested positive for the virus shortly after returning to Yangon from Bangkok, state media reported on July 9.

The victim arrived in Yangon on July 6 onboard a Thai Air Asia flight. Although he felt normal upon arrival, he fell ill the following day and visited an unnamed hospital for a checkup.

Health officials transferred the patient to Waibargi Hospital on July 8, and he was diagnosed with A(H1N1) by the National Influenza Lab, the report said.

It said the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with township authorities, was monitoring the health of the man’s family, airport staff and the 104 passengers who were on the same Thai Air Asia flight.

Dr Hla Myint, the divisional health director of Yangon Division, said the victim would be kept under constant surveillance for 10 days.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s first confirmed case of A(H1N1) influenza was discharged from Yangon General Hospital on July 8 after spending 13 days in the hospital’s isolation unit, said Dr Hla Myint.

“We allowed her to leave the hospital last Wednesday after she had fully recovered from her illness,” he said. “We kept her under constant surveillance for 10 days, then kept her for three more days to be certain about her health situation.”

He added that doctors would continue checking on her health condition even though she has been discharged from the hospital.

Dr Hla Myint said the surveillance period for the 203 people who had been in contact with the 13-year-old patient also ended on July 7.

“We found no one else with any A(H1N1) symptoms,” he said.

Among those under surveillance were 91 passengers who were on the same Singapore-Yangon flight with the girl on June 26.

Although the girl exhibited no flu symptoms at the airport, she developed a fever after arriving home and studying with friends at a private tutorial class. She was admitted to hospital on the same night and diagnosed with A(H1N1) the following day.

Dr Hla Myint said that all people entering Myanmar have been subject to health screenings for the virus since April 28. Follow-up home surveillance has been conducted on passengers who show suspicious symptoms.

At a meeting on A(H1N1) held on July 5 at the University of Public Health (Yangon), Deputy Minister of Health Dr Mya Oo said laboratory tests had found 35 suspicious cases of the influenza in Myanmar, but only one person was found to be infected.

He also said lab tests conducted by the National Influenza Lab were confirmed by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo, Japan.

Figures released by the World Health Organisation on July 8 showed that 429 of the 94,516 people infected by the virus worldwide have died.