Bahrain may be facing a second more severe bout of swine flu infections as winter looms.

A Health Ministry official yesterday sounded the alarm amid worrisome increasing number of confirmed infections.

'A total 300 H1N1 cases have been reported this week alone,' said ministry public and international relations director Adel Ali Abdulla.

According to updated figures, the overall number of lab-confirmed H1N1 cases soared to 1206, up from 900 within days.

'Over 80 per cent of detected H1N1 cases have tested positive,' Abdulla said. Faced with the increasing number of infections, the ministry has decided to stop lab testing to concentrate, instead, on treating the cases admitted to hospitals.

Students infected with H1N1 will be also granted a five-day holiday to recover. The decision has been co-ordinated with the World Health Organisation and the US Institute for infectious diseases.-TradeArabia News Service