LOC13:28
10:28 GMT
VIENNA, Oct 28 (KUNA) -- Austrian authorities went ahead and closed down
Innsbruck's University in Liens, in the southern part of the country, on
Wednesday after three confirmed cases of swine flu in the 286-student facility.
The school director told media yesterday that a number of students with
symptoms suspected to be of swine flu were being cared for at home and
undergoing tests to confirm their status vis a vis the AH1N1 virus. The
parents, he said, were all on constant contact with the school in this regard.
The Health Ministry was meanwhile distributing the swine flu vaccine on
healthcare facilities and urging the public to take the shot, indicating
children and the elderly as most susceptible.
A girl, 11 years of age, is currently in health quarantine and in
"critical" condition in the Tyrol region, suffering from the flu and kept
under constant watch in an intensive care unit. Innsbruck's University Clinic
doctors indicated Tuesday that the girl is possibly suffering from a super
bacteriological infection of the lungs as well as the flu.
Doctors in the country are still divided over the use and need for the
shot, some saying it was important to vaccinate the public and others saying
the global swine flu scare was the work of pharmaceutical companies looking
for financial profit and insisting proper hygiene was enough to prevent the
spread of the disease.(end)
amq.wsa
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