Saudi health officials confirm another 2 swine flu deaths

[JimO]

Source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/57145...ine-flu-deaths

Saudi health officials confirm another 2 swine flu deaths
by Martin Morris

The Saudi health ministry confirmed on Saturday another two swine flu deaths - a boy student aged 12 and a girl student of 14.

The 12-year old boy had been hospitalised due to repeated epilepsy occurrences and involuntary vomiting, which had severely infected his lungs, according to a statement.

The 14-year-old girl had been suffering from weight problems.

The statement added that in coordination with the Ministry of Education the two schools where the students attended have been shut down, in order to prevent any spread of the disease.

[Shiloh]

Re: Saudi health officials confirm another 2 swine flu deaths

Source: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&sect...tegory=Kingdom

Swine flu kills 2 students
P.K. Abdul Ghafour | Arab News


JEDDAH: Two students are the latest to die of swine flu, the Ministry of Health said Saturday. The victims, both with underlying health conditions, were a 12-year-old boy in Qassim and a 14-year-old girl in the Eastern Province.

Authorities have closed the two schools where the students studied to prevent the spread of the virus.

The ministry said the measures were taken as part of a national strategy to protect people against the H1N1 virus and urged the public to follow safety instructions it had issued earlier to protect against swine flu. It urged parents and school authorities to take students with swine flu symptoms to the nearest hospital urgently.

So far 39 people have died from swine flu in the Kingdom. The ministry said the student in Qassim was suffering from pulmonary inflammation while the one in the Eastern Province was suffering from acute obesity.

Saudi Arabia has taken a series of measures to prevent the spread of swine flu among students. Teachers have been given training on how to handle swine flu cases. The Kingdom had also delayed reopening schools after the summer vacation in order to give teachers and staff adequate time to take precautionary measures.

Hamid Al-Sulami, director of girls? education in the Makkah province, said swine flu cases had not been reported among students in the province. ?We have received only reports of suspected cases and none of them has been confirmed as the H1N1 virus since the reopening of schools,? he said.

According to Dr. Khaled Al-Mirghalani, spokesman of the Health Ministry, most swine flu deaths in the Kingdom were patients with a history of chronic chest and lung diseases. More than 3,500 people in the Kingdom have contracted H1N1 virus and 98 percent of them have recovered.

The ministry plans to open an emergency medical center in Jeddah for treating patients with swine flu.

The center will be part of Bakhsh Hospital on Prince Sultan Road near the Globe roundabout north of Jeddah. It is expected to be ready in two weeks. The 100-bed center will receive and treat cases of H1N1 infections during the Haj season.

[Roehl_JC]

Re: Saudi health officials confirm another 2 swine flu deaths

Man wants son?s death probed
Arab News

QASSIM: The father of one of two students who reportedly died from swine flu last week has accused doctors who treated his son of gross negligence, a report said on Monday.

Al-Otaibi demanded an investigation into the death of 12-year-old Raed, who was treated at Rass general hospital in Qassim Province on Wednesday. ?There is a glaring contradiction in the death report and the actual cause. It is not on any personal sentiments but to bring to account anyone who fails to do his duty to citizens in the country,? said Al-Otaibi.

He also claimed the hospital?s report stated the cause of death as a severe respiratory problem, not the H1N1 virus. He added he had found a surgery wound on the chest of his son?s body while he was washing it. Al-Otaibi claimed his son had never suffered from any disease in the past apart from tonsillitis when he was three-years-old and had generally been in the best of health. He also said last Monday that Raed was excited because he was participating in National Day celebrations at his school.

?He was all right when he went to bed on Tuesday night, but at Fajr he had a very high temperature and was very uneasy. I took him to the hospital,? he said. ?Raed was examined by doctors of various specializations, one after the other. But I told them I strongly suspected him to have swine flu and do the necessary tests. But they did not listen to me.? Al-Otaibi said his son?s condition continued to worsen and soon he was unconscious. He was then transferred to intensive care before dying on Wednesday. He also said that while the report stated the cause of death as a severe breathing difficulty, the swab test taken shortly before his death tested positive for the H1N1 virus.?

?I believe that there was gross negligence on the part of doctors in his diagnosis. I believe they failed to give him the right treatment.? Thirty-nine people have died from swine flu in the Kingdom as of Saturday, while the World Health Organization said nearly 5,000 swine flu deaths had been recorded worldwide as of Oct. 18.

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