CEBU CITY -- An international exchange student of a university in Manila tested positive for influenza A (H1N1) or swine flu, raising the total number of cases in the country to 22.

Health officials identified the latest case as a 21-year-old female foreign exchange student from De La Salle University (DLSU) Taft Avenue branch. The student's nationality is not yet known.

She arrived in the country on May 12 and went to DLSU on May 25 for the start of the first trimester of the school year. She felt the symptoms of swine flu on May 29 and informed authorities about it.

With the new confirmed case, DLSU officials decided to suspend classes for 10 days, starting at 4 p.m. of June 3 and until June 13, so everyone in DLSU Taft could go on a 10-day self-imposed quarantine.

The Department of Health (DOH) is now conducting contact tracing of students in the four classes attended by the 21-year-old female, as well as the people she came in contact with at the dormitory where she's staying.

The health agency will also investigate where she got the virus. It was learned the patient arrived in the country more than a week before she felt the symptoms.

As of Wednesday evening, the student's condition is stable, meaning she doesn't have the fever anymore.

In a press conference with DOH officials, officials of the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) clarified that response level 3 is only limited to DLSU Taft Avenue branch and that other La Salle schools, like St. Benilde, will remain open. (Sunnex)