S. Korean infant dies after Influenza A infection

[Treyfish]

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</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=default12>SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Yonhap) -- A two-month-old South Korean baby infected with Influenza A (H1N1) has died, health officials said Sunday, in what could be the first case here of the contagious disease claiming the life of someone under 30.

The female infant, a resident of the Seoul metropolitan area, died of acute heart failure at a hospital on Oct. 6 while visiting relatives in the country's southeast with her parents, officials said.

In a posthumous medical test, the infant was confirmed the following day to have been infected with Influenza A virus. Additional tests were still being conducted to confirm whether her death was directly related to the flu, according to the officials.

"The infant began to have a cough on Sept. 25 and was rushed to a hospital emergency room on Oct. 5. Because she was tested for the new flu belatedly, she was not given Tamiflu," said a government official.

Also Sunday, officials said a 64-year-old lung cancer patient died on Saturday after being diagnosed with Influenza A the previous day. The patient, a man living in the Seoul area, had shown flu-like symptoms before testing positive for the new flu virus, they said.

If the two latest deaths are confirmed as being related to Influenza A virus, the nation's death toll from the contagious disease will rise to 14.

South Korea reported its first new flu outbreak in early May, with the number of infections reaching more than 15,000. Most have fully recovered, but health experts say the disease could spread at a more rapid pace this fall and winter.

On Aug. 15, South Korea reported its first H1N1 virus-related death -- a man in his 50s who had returned from a trip to Thailand. (Yonhap):tiphat:http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=12232
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[Chuck]

Re: S. Korean infant dies after Influenza A infection

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/2009/10/12/228330/First-South.htm

First South Korea infant death from H1N1 confirmed
Health officials yesterday confirmed an additional two deaths from the H1N1 flu virus here, including the nation's first fatality case of an infant.

It is first time a person under the age of 30 has died from the disease in Korea, which has reported a total of 14 deaths from the flu as of yesterday.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a two-month baby girl died Tuesday from heart failure, a complication of her flu infection.

?As the doctor in charge said no other infectious agent linked to her illness has been found, the flu virus is likely to be linked to her death,? said Kwon Jun-Wook, senior official at the disease control agency.

?Further investigations are underway into the exact cause of the baby's death,? he added.

The girl, who had lived in the Seoul metropolitan area, started coughing and having breathing problems on Sept. 25, health officials said.

While visiting relatives living in the nation's southeastern region during the Chuseok holiday early this month, she was admitted to a local hospital for myocarditis on Oct. 5 and died the next day.

Her infection with the H1N1 flu virus was confirmed one day after her death, health officials said, adding that antiviral drugs were not administered to her.

Health officials also reaffirmed that infants under 59 months of age were at high risk of contracting the new flu virus as well as ordinary seasonal influenza and need to be examined promptly when they have possible flu symptoms.

The other fatality case confirmed yesterday was a 64-year-old man with lung cancer. He died of respiratory failure on Saturday after he tested positive for the flu virus on Friday, health officials said. Local drug maker Green Cross is expected to report the results of its first clinical tests of a domestically-produced vaccine within this week, according to the Korea Food and Drug Administration.

If a single shot is found to fully protect against the virus and the approval process is carried out as planned, the nation's first round of vaccinations against the disease will start as early as Oct. 26, the drug agency said.