620 Iranian schools closed to contain swine flu

Iran has ordered the closure of at least 620 schools in the country as a precaution against the spread of the A/H1N1 flu among Iranian students.

All of the 250 schools in Kashan, 370 schools In Isfahan, were shut down to abate the spread of the swine flu virus, Mehr news agency reported on Thursday.

"Seventy students have so far been hospitalized due to the A/H1N1 flu in the country," the agency quoted an informed source as saying.

According to a circular issued by Iran's Education Ministry, if 15 percent of the student in an educational institution are infected with the A/H1N1 flu, the body should be closed.

Earlier, the director of the Health Ministry's Center for Disease Control, Mohammad-Mehdi Gouya, urged parents to keep any child with flu-like symptoms, such as a fever, cough, or sore throat, at home until the symptoms are gone.

Iran's health officials have stressed that adopting simple precautionary measures, such as frequently washing hands, using a tissue to cover the mouth when coughing and sneezing, and avoiding kissing can help contain the virus from spreading.

The Health Ministry's latest reports indicate that swine flu has claimed the lives of 22 people across the country as the national tally of infections has risen to 1638.

According to Gouya, most of the victims fall into the seven to twenty-four years age group.

Iran's first swine flu case was a 16-year-old Iranian-American boy, who tested positive for the disease on June 22, upon his arrival in the Iranian capital Tehran.