30.06.09 Third H1N1 death fuels fears about virus severity
Source: Bangkok Post
The Public Health Ministry has confirmed the
country's third death from type A (H1N1) flu, fuelling fears about the
severity of the virus.
A 21-year-old navy conscript was pronounced dead at about 8am
yesterday at Queen Sirikit Hospital in Chon Buri's Sattahip district,
only two days after the first two fatalities were announced.
Capt Noppadon Supakorn, commander of the Naval Education
Department's recruit training centre, said the conscript developed a
high fever on June 15 but refused to go to hospital and continued to
take part in training.
The conscript's condition deteriorated and he was sent to hospital
yesterday morning where he died later of a severe lung infection.
Capt Noppadon said about 500 of a total of 4,200 conscripts had
developed flu-like symptoms and had been put under surveillance for
seven days.
Permanent secretary for public health Prat Boonyawongvirote
yesterday asked the Royal Thai Navy to monitor hygiene at the naval
base carefully to ensure the virus did not spread quickly.
Health authorities have been looking into the causes of the
conscript's death. Initial findings show obesity was one of the risk
factors contributing to his death.
Tawee Chotpitayasunondh, medical expert at the Department of Medical
Services, said the man weighed 105kg and was 170cm tall. A tough
training programme and inadequate rest while suffering flu symptoms
could have caused his condition to deteriorate.
Obesity has been found to be a major risk factor among people who
contracted A (H1N1) flu, he said citing a pandemic study on flu cases
in Mexico and the US.
Although young adults are at lower risk of contracting A (H1N1) flu
than children aged under five, seniors over 65 years and patients
suffering from chronic diseases, their flu symptoms tend to be more
severe, judging from the three local fatalities, he said.
The latest death has raised fears about the severity of the new flu
virus, but the health authority is insisting the fatality rate of A
(H1N1) in Thailand is considered low. Dr Tawee said the mortality rate
of A (H1N1) patients was two in a thousand - much lower than the US
rate of four in a thousand.
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