The Taipei County Public Health Bureau held a drill Thursday in an effort to perfect the process of quickly identifying, testing and treating students with flu-like symptoms, as part of a campaign to prevent an outbreak of influenza A (H1N1) after schools reopen on Friday. The drill, held at Wende Elementary School, simulated a situation in which the school nurse confirmed that a student had a fever and had to be taken immediately to Taipei County Public Health Center. After the student arrived at the health center, nose and throat swabs were immediately taken and a doctor was able to determine within five minutes whether or not the student was infected with the H1N1 virus. In an actual situation, if a student tests positive for the H1N1 virus, he or she will be given medication and sent home to rest for five days, or hospitalized if the symptoms are serious. In order to effectively monitor the spread of the virus, the Taipei City Government's Department of Education will supply all public schools with ear thermometers -- one for every three classes -- and students will be required to have their temperatures taken every day. According to Lin Guo-ning, an official at the Centers for Disease Control, these measures are being introduced to make good use of the precious time before a massive A(H1N1) outbreak occurs, as has been predicted. The Centers for Disease Control has also stipulated that if two students in a class are diagnosed with H1N1 within three days, the whole class must be suspended for five days in order to prevent cluster infections, Lin said. However, according to the head of the Kaohsiung County Government Health Bureau, five days of suspension might not be enough to alleviate the risk. Other countries tend to stipulate seven days in such situations, he noted. He also pointed out that it would be difficult to isolate students who are housed in emergency shelters in areas devastated by Typhoon Morakot, if they contract the H1N1 virus. For example, the 120 students of Baolai Junior High School in Liugui Township -- one of the 18 schools completely destroyed by Typhoon Morakot earlier this month -- are now housed at an Iguan Dao Temple where they all eat, sleep and take classes, he said. The Department of Health has given priority to typhoon victims, medical workers, pregnant women and children below high school level for H1N1 inoculation when 10,000,000 doses of the new vaccine become available in mid-November. However, experts have predicted that the vaccination campaign will come too late to prevent an H1N1 epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control has estimated that there are 15,000 new cases of H1N1 influenza cases every week, and the number is predicted to increase when the new school semester starts. The predictions put the number of H1N1 infections at a peak of 7,000,000, with a conservative death count of 7,000. H1N1 symptoms include cough, nasal congestion, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, body aches, joint pains, fever, sore throat, headache, fatigue and loss of energy. Antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu, if taken within 48 hours of the onset of H1N1 symptoms, can give some relief and reduce the period of illness by about a day. Tamiflu prescriptions for those who have been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus are now covered by National Health Insurance. 