RAMAT GAN, Israel, June 1 (UPI) -- Two Israelis have been hospitalized with the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu, as the number of cases in the country doubled, health officials said.
A 19-year-old, who caught the virus from a friend who had returned from the United States, was hospitalized Monday at the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer near Tel Aviv, while a 24-year-old woman was diagnosed with the swine flu Sunday, the Israeli Web site Ynetnews.com reported.
The new cases brought the number of Israeli swine flu infections to 26, doubling the previous total in a matter of days, officials said.
The Web site said the 24-year-old apparently caught the flu from her father, who had returned home to Israel from the United States without getting tested at the clinic in Ben Gurion Airport, where passengers who feel ill are directed to go.
Doctors told Ynetnews that swine flu patients are hospitalized in isolation for 48 hours after the virus is detected, then are released for "voluntary isolation" at home.
