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Flu patient apologizes for giving women virus

By Liang Qiwen in Guangzhou, Hu Meidong in Fuzhou, and Wang Ying in Shanghai (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-04 11:25

A Chinese-American has publicly apologized to two women that he unwittingly gave the A(H1N1) influenza virus in Guangdong province.

The man surnamed Li, 28, was discharged from hospital on Tuesday night amid criticism that he was irresponsible when he developed flu symptoms.

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The pair traveled on the same flight from New York and arrived in Fuzhou, Fujian province.

Li apologized to the two women he infected and to the people of Guangzhou in a letter released by the No 8 People's Hospital of Guangzhou Wednesday.

"The 28-year-old Chinese-American man surnamed Li, who worked in a New York hospital, has recovered and he left the hospital on Tuesday night," said Yin Zhibiao, the hospital's vice-director.

"He did not accept media interviews but gave us an apology letter and asked us to release it the next day."

In the letter, Li wrote that he did not know he was carrying the virus when he first registered a fever and began to cough.

Li began to feel ill as he posed for bridal photos with his girlfriend at a studio on May 25 and 26.

He had arrived in Guangzhou from New York on May 24 and was confirmed as infected with the virus on May 28.

Li's father said: "Li has called the two women before and said sorry to them, and they have forgiven my son."

In Shanghai, three patients were discharged from hospital yesterday afternoon when their temperatures returned to normal and their symptoms disappeared.

One of those patients was a 26-year-old woman who arrived in Shanghai on American Airlines flight AA289 from the United States on May 23. She became the city's second confirmed patient on May 27.

The other two patients were a 22-year-old Chinese student and the head steward of Air China flight CA178. They were on the same May 23 flight from Australia with Shanghai's first confirmed patient.

The student and the steward were confirmed as being infected with the virus while in quarantine.