Secret centre for flu patients

A secret centre for assessing, testing and isolating potential swine flu victims is operating in Christchurch to prevent the virus spreading.

Canterbury's primary health sector set up the clinic on Monday and has treated about 40 patients, although by last night there had been no confirmed cases of swine flu in the South Island.

The Ministry of Health yesterday confirmed 14 people on Air New Zealand flight NZ1 from Los Angeles to Auckland last Saturday mostly pupils from Rangitoto College in Aucklamd had tested positive for the H1N1 strain of swine flu that has claimed lives in Mexico.

The people seen at the Christchurch clinic were either passengers on the flight with the infected pupils or those in close contact with the travellers since their return.

Officials are keeping the location of the clinic secret to avoid panic.

Pegasus Health spokesman Simon Wynn-Thomas said the assessment centre was set up to ensure people who may have swine flu got treatment without running the risk of them contaminating others when visiting a general practice.

Patients were referred to the centre by their GP or public health authorities, and it had treated about a dozen people a day.

None was in a serious enough condition to be sent to hospital, Wynn-Thomas said.

Christchurch Hospital this week set up a "red stream", where people suspected of having influenza A can be treated away from other patients.

Wynn-Thomas said that on arrival at the clinic, called a "screening network" by health officials, patients were given a mask and were isolated from other patients.

Canterbury District Health Board medical officer of health Dr Ramon Pink said there had been no confirmed cases of swine flu in the South Island.

Thirteen of the 15 unwell Canterbury people from flight NZ1 had returned negative tests results for influenza A, he said.

However, swabs were still being taken and Tamiflu administered for people who were unwell and had travelled in Mexico or North America in the past seven days, Pink said.

Twenty Nelson-Marlborough people have been in quarantine after their returned from the US on flight NZ1.

Nelson-Marlborough Public Health medical officer Dr Jill Sherwood said one of six people with flu symptoms had returned a negative test result for influenza A. Swab results from the other five people were being awaited last night.

Eleven people on a flight that stopped in Auckland yesterday en route to Australia were taken to hospital as they were suspected of having the virus. Five of the passengers were in transit, including Australian Alana Coulter.

She said she had been travelling for several months and was "desperate" to return home to friends and family.

She was frustrated to be detained for having "a bit of a runny nose".

She was sent to Middlemore Hospital for treatment and later transferred to a hotel.

More than 150 Kiwis remained in voluntary quarantine yesterday, although exact figures on those showing flu symptoms were unavailable.

A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said some regional public health authorities had "prioritised" treating suspected cases over updating figures.

Reports from Mexico, where the outbreak was first recorded, say 159 people have died from swine flu, but the World Health Organisation said Mexican authorities had confirmed only seven deaths from 26 confirmed cases.

- © Fairfax NZ News