Twenty-one residents of a Hong Kong child care center have fallen ill as the A(H1N1) flu virus continues to rage in the city, with 17 of them already tested positive for the disease, health officials said Wednesday.

The fifteen boys and six girls from the residential child care center in Causeway Bay came down with fever, cough and sore throat since August 9, a spokesman from the city's Center for Health Protection said, adding that all the 21 patients, aged between six to 15, are now stable and no hospitalization is needed.

The Center for Health Protection is still investigating the outbreak, the spokesman said.

Hong Kong reported 345 new cases of A(H1N1) virus infection Wednesday, bringing the total to 7,906 since the virus was first detected here at the end of May.

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2009)