May 7, 2009 4:21 pm US/Eastern
71 Swine Flu Cases Now Confirmed In Mass.
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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DNA test kits of the the influenza A(H1N1) or Swine Flu virus prepared by PrimerDesign Ltd are displayed at the company laboratory in Southampton on May 2, 2009.
Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images
Twenty-six new cases of H1N1 influenza, also known as the swine flu, were confirmed in Massachusetts Thursday, according to the Department of Public Health.
That brings the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 71. 44 of them are children between the ages of 6 and 17.
"This increase in cases in Massachusetts, similar to what is being seen in other states, was expected given the intensity of surveillance for new cases, and the broad testing program for specimens early in the outbreak.," DPH said in a statement.
Health officials do not reveal which communities have new cases.
Read: List of confirmed cases
They would only say 14 are in Middlesex County, five in Norfolk, three in Suffolk, two in Essex and and one each in Worcester and Hampden counties.
Boston Public Schools announced Thursday that a 5-year-old student at John Marshall Elementary School in Dorchester tested positive for H1N1. The school will remain open, and the child has not been in class since May 1.
Read: Curious About Swine Flu
The youngest patient of the new cases is an infant under the age of 1, the oldest is 26.
Meanwhile, there have been three confirmed cases of H1N1 in New Hampshire.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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