China reports 1st H1N1 flu-related death

(Agencies/Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-02 10:00

BEIJING: A woman in eastern China diagnosed with the H1N1 virus has died in the country's first A(H1N1) flu-related death, local health authorities said late Wednesday.

The 34-year-old woman was found dead early Wednesday in the bathroom of her ward at the No.1 People's Hospital in Hangzhou, the capital of coastal Zhejiang province, according to the municipal health bureau.

The patient was admitted on June 23 and her temperature had been normal for a week with no other flu symptoms. The cause of her death was under investigation.

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This would be China's first death from the A(H1N1) flu if the investigation showed the woman died from the disease.

Liang Wannian, vice director of the emergency office under the Health Ministry, warned Monday that China is "very likely" to have its first death from the A(H1N1) influenza in the foreseeable future, as the number of the flu cases rises in the country.

Liang warns that the chances of medical workers and high-risk groups, such as pregnant women and people with chronic diseases, being infected will rise, making serious cases of the A(H1N1) flu or even fatalities "extremely possible."

The ministry said late Wednesday that there have been 867 reported cases of A(H1N1) flu in China. Among the patients, 523 have been discharged from hospitals, 341 were being treated in hospitals and three patients were receiving medical care at their homes.

Among the latest were seven students at a primary school in Beijing who were diagnosed on Wednesday. The Nanhu Zhongyuan Primary School was closed and more than 150 people who had close contact with the seven students are under observation.

On Monday, a top health official said China will step up its efforts to reduce secondary transmissions and community outbreaks, especially with the prospect of a more rapid spread of the disease this fall and winter.

The health ministry is sticking to current measures such as quarantines, but those plans will be adjusted if experts think it is necessary, Liang said.

Worldwide, there were 332 deaths and more than 77,000 confirmed cases as of Wednesday, according to the latest figures available from the UN's World Health Organization.