300 students at risk from A(H1N1) under close watch, schools closure ordered temporarily

BANGKOK, Jan 25 (TNA) – Thailand’s Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) on Monday ordered the temporary closure of schools where students reportedly contracted Influenza A(H1N1), and placed some 300 high-risk students across the country under close watch.

Special Affairs Bureau director Satchathorn Wattanamongkol of the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Education said that according to the weekly report on the A(H1N1) situation from January 18 to 23, laboratory test results confirmed nine students in OBEC schools were infected with the virus.

Of the nine, two are in the capital, three in Ayutthaya, two in Phrae, one each in Chaiyaphum and Narathiwat, said Mr Satchathorn.

He said that the ministry has also ordered the temporary closure of schools in Narathiwat and Phrae to contain the disease.

Mr Satchathorn said that 296 students in 23 OBEC schools in 14 provinces are also under close surveillance.

Contracting A(H1N1) since June 2008 were 2,708 students nationwide, but the situation can be contained and controlled despite the continued spread of new patients.

The education ministry has instructed provincial OBEC directors across the country to step up screening the measures in schools to detect A(H1N1) risk students, he said.

However there have been no reports of A(H1N1) in private schools. (TNA)