New-flu infections in Japan rises to 424

Two women -- aged 21 and 23 working for Narita airport's lounge, an area accessible only by passengers who complete embarking were identified as having the new H1N1 strain of influenza A, The Chiba prefectural government said.

A 6-year-old boy in the Osaka city was also found to be infected with the new flu. The boy, a first-grader in primary school had recently visited Hawaii with his family and there spent time with a man from Osaka Prefecture who has been found to be infected with the new flu.

The remaining three are a 27-year-old man in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, who works for a company in Tokyo, a boy in Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, who returned from the United States on May 29, and a junior high school student in Fukuoka City, according to local authorities.

Meanwhile the Fukuonka municipal government reported four more new-flu infections today, bringing the total number of people confirmed to have been infected with the new H1N1 strain in Japan to 424.

The officials said the fresh cases involved 3 major junior high school students and an elementary school boy in the southwestern city, who received tests at a local health labratory after developing fevers.