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TYRE, Lebanon: The Health Ministry and a south Lebanon hospital Tuesday flatly denied that the country is witnessing an outbreak of the swine flu after news emerged of the deaths of two patients who displayed H1N1-like symptoms.
Ibrahim Salman, 55, passed away Tuesday at the Lebanese-Italian Hospital in Tyre after being admitted for pneumonia - a symptom typical of a fatal strain of the swine flu, a medical source told The Daily Star.
Salman?s death came a few days after another patient, identified by the initials T.Y., also died of pneumonia in the same hospital.
The source in south Lebanon told The Daily Star that there are at least seven patients with severe pulmonary inflammation currently seeking treatment in hospitals across Tyre.
The same source revealed that a family of five suffering from pulmonary infections has been admitted to a hospital in Sidon.
The five consist of a father, his wife and their three children, according to the source, who said that the children transmitted the infection to their parents after catching it in school. The family has been treated and is set to be released later Tuesday.
The deaths of two patients in the Tyre hospital have raised questions over whether a fatal strain of the swine flu virus, which causes acute respiratory tract infection, is behind the symptoms.
The Lebanese-Italian Hospital in Tyre has flatly denied the presence of any fatal case of swine flu in the hospital, saying that examinations conducted on the patients tested negative for a fatal strain of the virus, according to a statement released Tuesday.
Director-General at Lebanon?s Health Ministry, Walid Ammar, also denied a swine flu outbreak Tuesday, saying that there is ?no such thing as fatal swine flu in Lebanon.?
Ammar insisted that the virus, known as H1N1, ?doesn?t constitute a health emergency," describing it as a yearly seasonal virus transferred by respiratory secretions.
Ibrahim Salman, 55, passed away Tuesday at the Lebanese-Italian Hospital in Tyre after being admitted for pneumonia - a symptom typical of a fatal strain of the swine flu, a medical source told The Daily Star.
Salman?s death came a few days after another patient, identified by the initials T.Y., also died of pneumonia in the same hospital.
The source in south Lebanon told The Daily Star that there are at least seven patients with severe pulmonary inflammation currently seeking treatment in hospitals across Tyre.
The same source revealed that a family of five suffering from pulmonary infections has been admitted to a hospital in Sidon.
The five consist of a father, his wife and their three children, according to the source, who said that the children transmitted the infection to their parents after catching it in school. The family has been treated and is set to be released later Tuesday.
The deaths of two patients in the Tyre hospital have raised questions over whether a fatal strain of the swine flu virus, which causes acute respiratory tract infection, is behind the symptoms.
The Lebanese-Italian Hospital in Tyre has flatly denied the presence of any fatal case of swine flu in the hospital, saying that examinations conducted on the patients tested negative for a fatal strain of the virus, according to a statement released Tuesday.
Director-General at Lebanon?s Health Ministry, Walid Ammar, also denied a swine flu outbreak Tuesday, saying that there is ?no such thing as fatal swine flu in Lebanon.?
Ammar insisted that the virus, known as H1N1, ?doesn?t constitute a health emergency," describing it as a yearly seasonal virus transferred by respiratory secretions.