Three new swine flu cases have been recorded in Bahrain, it has emerged.

The patients were kept under observation in health centres and are now recovering at home, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

However, an Ethiopian woman, who became the first person to test positive this year, remains in a critical condition at Salmaniya Medical Complex.

The 41-year-old walked into the Accident and Emergency department on February 3 with high fever, urinary tract infection and other complications.

Samples tested at the public health laboratory later showed she was infected with swine flu and is being kept in isolation.

"The Ethiopian patient continues to be in critical condition and is in the Intensive Care Unit," said Public Health directorate director Dr Mariam Al Mulla, who confirmed the three new H1N1 cases.

"Tests were conducted on her family and her Bahraini husband, which were all negative and this is a good sign."

Dr Mulla said the patient did not travel outside the country and contracted the virus locally.

She confirmed all precautionary measures were being taken, but said an emergency protocol to screen travellers coming to Bahrain had not yet been activated.

"We have vaccinations for flu which works well against H1N1 virus, so there should be no problem," said Dr Mulla.

"The ministry is at the moment taking all precautionary measures and there is no need to panic at this stage."

Fatality

Twenty-one swine flu cases were confirmed in Bahrain last year following 582 tests at the public health laboratory.

One fatality was recorded - a 41-year-old Indian man who died after contracting the virus while on holiday in Kerala.

Around 1,500 people were also affected by the highly-contagious condition, but most had minor to moderate conditions and quickly recovered.

Dr Mulla explained experts look for H1N1 and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections from all the samples collected from patients showing symptoms of the virus.

"Bahrain has not registered a single case of coronavirus," she confirmed. The coronavirus has claimed 79 lives so far - 59 of which were registered in neighbouring Saudi Arabia. - TradeArabia News Service