Vietnam confirmed nine more cases of the A/H1N1 flu, bringing total infections to 1,004, with one death, as of 5 pm on August 5, according to the Ministry of Health.

Of the total, 588 have been discharged from hospital, while 415 others are undergoing treatment and are in stable condition.

Deputy Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan presided over a meeting of the National Steering Committee on Human Influenza Prevention on August 5, informing attendees that the super flu is developing rapidly nationwide.

The flu is at risk of becoming wide-spread in the community if supervisory agencies are not vigilant, he warned, requiring them to detect and isolate infected cases in a timely manner.

Currently, the use of Tamiflu for the treatment of A/H1N1 patients is still effective, deputy Minister Huan affirmed. However, he also asked for more attention to be paid to the treatment to ward off future fatalities.

According to Director of the National Infectious and Tropical Disease Institute Nguyen Van Kinh, everyday, the institute receives 300-350 people needing to be tested for the H1N1 virus, overloading its capacity.

The World Health Organisation has given Vietnam 500 testing kits which provide a quick result in 15 minutes, however, the number of kits is still modest as the demand for testing is rising.

The super flu has hit 193,574 people in 168 countries and territories world wide, 1,362 of whom have died.