Over 100 Vietnamese workers infected with H1N1

A total of 117 workers of a garment factory in Vietnam have been confirmed to have contracted flu virus H1N1, local media reported Monday.

Of the 117 workers of Vinatex Kien Giang factory in Kien Giang Province, 34 have been hospitalized, daily newspaper Sai Gon Giai Phong (Saigon Liberation) reported. Samples taken from them have been tested positive to H1N1, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute.

The factory, which houses nearly 1,000 workers, has been asked to take preventive measures to prevent further spread of the flu, such as encouraging its employees to wear facial masks and disinfect workshops, canteens and water closets.

Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans and cause a small fraction of all seasonal flu. Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs (swine flu) and in birds (avian flu).

In June 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new strain of swine-origin H1N1 as a pandemic which spread worldwide and caused about 17,000 deaths by the start of 2010.

In August 2010, the WHO declared the H1N1 flu pandemic over, saying worldwide flu activity had returned to typical seasonal patterns. Endit