HA NOI — Four more people were confirmed yesterday to have the ‘super flu’, bringing the total number of cases of the potentially deadly virus in Viet Nam to 32, according to the Health Ministry’s Department of Preventive Health and Environment.

The new cases of the super flu, known as A/H1N1 flu, included a 62-year-old Canadian nun who has been quarantined and is currently receiving treatment in HCM City’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases. Another two cases were a 25-year-old woman who recently returned from the USA and was hospitalised in Nha Trang General Hospital and a 27-year-old American Vietnamese who has been quarantined in HCM City’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

Also yesterday, the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Preventive Medicine Centre confirmed the first case of super flu in the province. The 65-year-old patient, a Buddhist nun at the Buu Tich Ni Tu Pagoda in Tan Thanh District, is being treated at the HCM City Tropical Disease Hospital.

A Canadian woman of Vietnamese origin had reportedly visited the pagoda on June 12. One day later she had a fever and tested positive for the A/H1N1 virus.

The centre was closely supervising the health of 29 nuns, monks and children living at the pagoda.

Of the infected cases, 19 patients, including 18 in HCM City and one in Ha Noi, have already recovered and have been discharged from hospital.

To date, no deaths have been reported.

Pasteur Nha Trang Hospital yesterday reported that a patient with the super flu had escaped from the hospital on Wednesday evening. The patient had checked into the hospital for a medical examination on Tuesday.

Bui Xuan Minh, deputy director of southern Khanh Hoa Province’s Department of Health, said the sector would co-operate with local authorities to find the patient and isolate him for treatment.

As of Wednesday, 76 countries and territories around the world have reported 35,928 cases of the super flu, 163 of them have resulted in fatalities. — VNS