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H1N1 flu continues to spread worldwide
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-19 14:17

BEIJING: With the A(H1N1) flu pandemic continuing to spread, more confirmed cases were reported worldwide on Saturday.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in its daily situation report Saturday that 169 new A(H1N1) flu cases were reported in European countries within the last 24 hours.

Of the new cases, 87 were confirmed in Spain, 33 in France, 15 in Switzerland, 10 in Portugal, six in Luxembourg, five in Ireland, three in Slovenia, two each in Belgium, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Iceland, and one each in Poland and Romania.

The total number of confirmed cases of the A(H1N1) flu virus in the EU (European Union) and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries rose to 16,059, with 1,309 cases in Spain and 10,649 in Britain, 514 in France and 834 in Germany, the ECDC said.

In Russia, the number of confirmed cases rose to 10 after one new case was registered in southwestern Siberia, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Saturday.

The new patient, a 14-year-old girl from Tomsk,contracted the flu virus on a trip to Britain, the regional administration said.

In Georgia, authorities on Saturday confirmed the country's first case of the flu in a male Georgian citizen who had recently returned home from Britain.  The man has been put under isolation and was in a stable condition, said authorities.

Singapore reported its first death from the A(H1N1) flu virus Saturday, signaling a worsening situation of the epidemic in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to Singapore's Health Ministry, a 49-year-old man infected with the virus died of heart attack Saturday afternoon.

The ministry said the patient had multiple co-morbidities, including diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol.

He was admitted to Singapore's Changi General Hospital on July 16 after four days of flu-like symptoms and was diagnosed with A(H1N1) influenza.

According to the latest official data, Singapore has confirmed more than 1,200 infection cases.

Indonesia said on Saturday that 15 people were infected with the A(H1N1) virus, bringing the total number in the country to 157.

Of the new cases, two were foreigners and the rest were Indonesian citizens.

Four of the 15 were male and 11 were female aged between four and 49. All of them were being treated at hospitals in Jakarta, Bandung of West Java, Bali, Medan of North Sumatra and Surabaya ofEast Java.

The Bangladeshi authorities has confirmed two more A(H1N1) flu cases, bringing the total number of such cases in the South Asian country to 24, according to local newspaper The Independent on Saturday.

The country's health authorities were quoted as saying that 18 of the 24 patients, aged between 2 and 46, have fully recovered while six were still receiving medical treatment.

Ten of the cases contracted the virus within the country and all of them were relatives of those infected people who had returned from abroad.

The Saudi Health Ministry Saturday confirmed nine new A(H1N1) cases, bringing the country's total number of infections to 294.

Seven of the newly diagnosed cases were Saudi citizens -- six male and one female -- while the other two were foreigners, said Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabia in a statement.

The statement said 215 cases in the country have completely recovered, while the rest were in a stable condition and receiving treatment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday that it will stop tracking A/H1N1 cases, saying that the pandemic is the fastest growing ever and it is pointless to count each case.

The WHO, however, called on countries to continue to report clusters of severe cases or deaths caused by the new virus or unusual clinical patterns.