Britain confirms 9 more cases of new flu

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain confirmed nine new cases of the H1N1 flu strain on Monday, bringing the total across the country to 27, the government's Health Protection Agency (HPA) said.

Five of the new confirmed cases were children who all attended the same south east London school, which would now be closed for seven days, the HPA said.

It said a further two of the new cases were adults from London and the West Midlands in central England, who had recently returned from Mexico, and another two were school-age siblings in London.

Another 331 suspected cases were being investigated.

The HPA said as a precautionary measure, the London school with five new confirmed cases, Alleyn's School in Dulwich, would "remain closed following the bank holiday weekend, initially for seven consecutive days."

The five were thought to have been in contact with a fellow pupil who had recently returned from the United States and had already been confirmed as having swine flu, it said.

"Parents with children at the school are today being notified of the current situation and local health protection experts are working alongside the school to provide anti-virals as a precautionary measure," the HPA added.

The Department of Health said seven of the new cases appeared "to have been acquired from person-to-person contact." It reiterated Britain was well-prepared to deal with the disease.