As international concerns grow over the possibility of a swine flu pandemic, the state Health Department said it has taken extra measures to investigate and monitor the flu's spread in the Islands since it first showed up on O'ahu.

The department yesterday reported that 83 new cases of H1N1 Influenza A, or swine flu, had been confirmed in Hawai'i in the past week, bringing the total number of cases to 198. That's the single biggest weekly increase recorded in Hawai'i, and it included the first confirmed cases on Kaua'i.

A breakdown of the new cases shows two on Kaua'i, one on Maui, two on the Big Island and 78 on O'ahu.

All of the people infected have recovered or are recovering at home with no complications, the state said.

The severity of the illness in the Islands is still considered moderate and no steps are being taken to close schools or call for other extreme measures, said Janice Okubo, DOH spokeswoman.

"We've been treating this as if it was a pandemic from the beginning," Okubo said, adding that the state has been looking at clusters, working with physicians and partnering with private laboratories to get specimens analyzed quicker and confirmations made.

To date, the DOH has investigated more than 1,100 people. The state laboratory tests 60 to 120 samples a day. Of specimens that are positive for Influenza A, 5 to 10 percent are novel H1N1 of the swine origin, 5 to 10 percent are seasonal H1 influenza and 80 to 90 percent are seasonal H3 influenza.

"The numbers we are seeing are expected and not alarming," said Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the health department. "The number of cases will continue to rise as we identify more cases due to community transmission. All the cases we have been investigating have recovered or are recovering at home with no complications."

Fukino advised people with flu symptoms to stay at home and not expose others.

The World Health Organization may declare the swine flu a pandemic today due to spikes in cases in Australia and severe illnesses in Canada.

Okubo said part of the reason could be that the WHO doesn't want people to become complacent about the disease.

"There's still some concern about what might happen in the fall, what might unfold when we get into the real flu season," she said.

"I think part of the focus is keeping people aware of it and making sure they continue to practice good health habits, stay at home when they're sick, isolate themselves, cover their coughs."