PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia recorded its highest number of local transmissions of influenza A (H1N1) with 11 new cases, including its first "second generation local case".

As of yesterday, 35 new cases have been reported, 24 of which were imported, bringing the total number in the country to 326.

The "second generation case' is a child of the 242nd case, a patient who caught the virus locally from an imported case.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said five of the 11 locally transmitted cases were participants of the Asia-Pacific Pharmaceutical Conference held in Penang from June 27 to 30, raising the number of people infected at the event to 12.

The other local cases were two 19-year-old students who had contact with the 143rd case, a two-year-old toddler of the 154th case, a 15-year-old SM Tsun Jin student and the 37-year-old driver of the 183rd case, he said.

"The new cases involve 28 Malaysians and three Indonesians, three Australians and one Singaporean.

"As for the imported cases, these were 12 people travelling here from Jakarta, five from Bangkok, three from Melbourne, two from Singapore and one each from Manila and London," he said in a press statement here yesterday.

Dr Ismail said 237 of the 326 infected people had recovered and had been discharged from hospitals.

He said the number of people currently under quarantine for coming in contact with confirmed patients was 1,016.

Two schools, which had been ordered closed last week, had also reopened yesterday, he added. -The Star/Asia News Network