Re: Lebanon records first H1N1 death
Source:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=104854
Man with swine flu may have died from Leukemia
By Dalila Mahdawi and Carol Rizk
Daily Star staff
Saturday, August 01, 2009
BEIRUT: The death on Thursday of a Lebanese man suffering from swine flu may not have been caused by the virus, Health Minister Mohammad Jawad Khalifeh said on Friday.
The 20-year old man, who was pronounced dead Thursday evening at Beirut?s Hotel Dieu Hospital, already had serious underlying health conditions as a result of Leukemia, Khalifeh told reporters at a conference to discuss Lebanese swine flu developments. He may have contracted the deadly virus, also known as the A (H1N1) virus, from relatives who had just arrived in the country from Australia, the minister said.
?We cannot conclude that the cause of death is the A (H1N1) virus, but tests are being conducted at the Rafik Hariri National Laboratory,? he said, adding the results were expected Saturday. An autopsy would also be carried out if needed, Khalifeh said.
The deceased was identified as Elias Antoine Nihmatallah from the Sighar village in Batroun, Voice of Lebanon radio station reported Friday morning. Nihmatallah is the first fatality of a person suffering from swine flu reported in Lebanon so far.
The number of individuals suffering from swine flu in Lebanon now stands at 162, Khalifeh said, with roughly half picking up the virus locally. Most other patients acquired the virus in Australia, the US, Cyprus or elsewhere abroad, according to a graph handed out by the Health Ministry. A majority of those suffering from the virus are males under the age of 30, with the greatest number of cases being reported in Beirut and Mount Lebanon.
Reiterating comments made on Wednesday that the number of swine flu patients would increase this fall and winter, Khalifeh said the health ministry had developed a swine flu prevention plan for the upcoming seasons to combat a spread of the virus, especially among students. The World Health Organization has warned the swine flu virus, now considered a ?moderate? pandemic, could spread or even mutate as temperatures drop and the ordinary flu season begins.
?With schools starting up again in the fall, the ministry has asked that schools and nurseries keep a daily account of all sick children,? Khalifeh said, asking parents to keep their children at home if they show any signs of the virus.
?The Health Ministry can manage prevention operations but it cannot go into every home and impose hygiene measures,? he said, urging individuals to take their own preventative measures against the virus. Khalifeh said a vaccine for swine flu would be made available to the public in November or December of this year but said it was still unknown how effective it would be. Once available to the public, the vaccine would first be administered to hospital and airport employees, the elderly and those with weak immune systems, he added.
Arab health ministers last week said they would prohibit individuals considered most vulnerable to catching the virus including adults over 65 years old, children under 12 or the chronically ill ? from participating in the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
Lebanon has implemented a series of preventative measures to contain swine flu from spreading further or affecting the economy. All those returning from abroad with the virus are examined and receive immediate treatment, with medication also being given to all passengers who have come into contact with the patient.
Thermal sensors have also been set up at Beirut?s Rafik Hariri International Airport to screen travelers for abnormally high body temperatures, a symptom of the virus.
The World Health Organization announced on July 16 it would stop issuing figures for the numbers of individuals affected, saying statistic-keeping efforts were proving too demanding for countries where swine flu was spreading quickly.
Swine flu has affected over 134,500 and killed at least 816 people across the world, the WHO said on Thursday.
