tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) ? A 62-year-old physician from South Taiwan is the country?s 43rd H1N1 fatality, the Centers for Disease Control announced Tuesday.
The man suffered a heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, and was not vaccinated against the potentially fatal swine flu virus nor against the common flu, CDC Vice Director-General Lin Ting told reporters. As a result, the man could be considered a high-risk patient, he said.
The doctor, who practiced in the Kaohsiung and Pingtung regions of South Taiwan, had no history of recent travel, Lin said. The patient checked into a clinic on June 13 and was diagnosed with A (H1N1). Despite advice from the clinic to take the anti-flu drug Tamiflu, the patient apparently had concerns and refused to take the drug.
He only accepted on June 16, but by that time it was too late, Lin said. The patient lost consciousness on June 18 and was submitted to emergency treatment, but he died shortly later, about two weeks after first falling ill, the CDC said.
The man was the only physician among the flu?s 43 fatal victims, most of who fell last year before a nationwide vaccination program started in the autumn.
Of the cases tested, only about 4 percent were confirmed as A (H1N1), while 92 percent were diagnosed as B-type flu, according to the CDC. Despite the advent of summer, the flu could still spread though the potentially dangerous A-type was less likely.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1296184&lang=eng_news
The man suffered a heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, and was not vaccinated against the potentially fatal swine flu virus nor against the common flu, CDC Vice Director-General Lin Ting told reporters. As a result, the man could be considered a high-risk patient, he said.
The doctor, who practiced in the Kaohsiung and Pingtung regions of South Taiwan, had no history of recent travel, Lin said. The patient checked into a clinic on June 13 and was diagnosed with A (H1N1). Despite advice from the clinic to take the anti-flu drug Tamiflu, the patient apparently had concerns and refused to take the drug.
He only accepted on June 16, but by that time it was too late, Lin said. The patient lost consciousness on June 18 and was submitted to emergency treatment, but he died shortly later, about two weeks after first falling ill, the CDC said.
The man was the only physician among the flu?s 43 fatal victims, most of who fell last year before a nationwide vaccination program started in the autumn.
Of the cases tested, only about 4 percent were confirmed as A (H1N1), while 92 percent were diagnosed as B-type flu, according to the CDC. Despite the advent of summer, the flu could still spread though the potentially dangerous A-type was less likely.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1296184&lang=eng_news