Lima - Eighteen schools in Lima suspended lessons for students in their senior year, due to the new influenza virus A(H1N1), the authorities said Friday.

Thirteen of Peru's 16 cases of the so-called swine flu are linked to high school seniors who travelled to the Dominican Republic. Eleven of the people infected are teenagers who travelled, while the other two are relatives of students.

The authorities determined that 635 students from middle- and high-class schools in Lima travelled to the Dominican beaches at Punta Cana this year for the traditional journey to mark the end of their school years.

Within South America, only Chile has more new flu infections than Peru, with a total of 24.

Peruvian Health Ministry Oscar Ugarte noted Friday that infections in Peru are all "imported," since the three sick people without ties to the Dominican Republic were infected in the United States, in two cases, or in Argentina. (dpa)