The Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City Health Department of Vietnam said on Saturday a woman coming back from Australia became the country's 37th A/H1N1 flu case, local online news source the VietnamNet reported.

The 37-year-old patient returned to Vietnam from Australia on the flight VN780 on Thursday. She, mother of two children, was confirmed positive to the A/H1N1 virus on Friday, said the source. The three patients are now being treated at the HCM City Hospital of Children No.1.

Previously, in another report on Saturday, the VietnamNet said the country confirmed 36 A/H1N1 flu cases. Among those, 29 patients are from HCM City, three from the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, two from the southern province of Vung Tau, one from the central province of Khanh Hoa and one from the capital city of Hanoi.

With number of flu patients rising quickly, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health requested that passengers on flights having A/H1N1 flu patients quarantine themselves and report their health conditions to the nearest health agencies when having symptoms of fever and cough.

Meanwhile, 20 patients were discharged from the hospitals, including 19 patients in HCM City and one in Hanoi. The rest are being treated and in stable conditions, according to the report.

(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2009)