A doctor test blood samples for the H1N1 virus.

Ho Chi Minh City has recorded its first death of an influenza A (H1N1) patient.

Fifty-two-year-old Tran Thi Binh in District 10 died Monday night, several hours after she tested positive for the H1N1 virus.

Binh was admitted last Thursday with fatigue and breathing difficulty at the 115 People’s Hospital, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia. When she had not shown signs of recovery after four days of treatment until Sunday, doctors from the city’s Hospital For Tropical Diseases were summoned to conduct blood tests for influenza A (H1N1).

After the test proved positive on Monday, Binh, who had lost consciousness, was transferred to the Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital in District 5 where she succumbed to the disease the same night.

The victim, afflicted by Down’s syndrome, had developed high fever, coughing, vomiting and diarrhea since Monday last week.

The second test at the Pasteur Institute in the city Tuesday confirmed that Binh was infected with H1N1.

Nguyen Van Chau, director of the city’s Health Department, in his report to the Health Ministry said the death of the flu patient with Down’s syndrome was related to severe respiratory and multiple organ failure.

The department has ordered the Preventive Health Center of District 10 to sterilize the area around the patient’s neighborhood, and instructed the family on burial procedures in order to prevent the virus from spreading.

Direct cause of the death has not been concluded yet. The department said an autopsy will be performed.

Around 16 members of Binh’s family are being monitored closely by city health authorities.

Dr. Phan Van Nghiem of the HCMC Health Department said such a death has been expected and the city health authority was prepared.

“Influenza A (H1N1) in the city has reached another stage that both residents and health officials have been concerned about,” he said.

The country’s first influenza A (H1N1) death was that of 29-year-old Tran Thi Kim Loan who died on August 3 in Khanh Hoa Province, also after having been diagnosed with pneumonia.

Tamiflu concern unnecessary

Flu fears have prompted some people in HCMC to stock Tamiflu at home though health officials have recommended they only use the medicine on doctors’ prescription.

Truong Quoc Cuong, head of the Medicine Management Department under the Health Ministry, told Thanh Nien Tuesday that people shouldn’t worry about the lack of Tamiflu as the imported quantity so far is 20 times greater than the number of infections.

Nearly 4,500 sets of 10 tablets will be imported in September, Cuong said.

Some pharmacies in the city are reportedly selling such sets at VND1.4-1.5 million each, and Cuong said it was an “unreasonable price,” adding each set is being imported at VND450,000.

His department has asked the HCMC Health Department to check such cases and punish those responsible.

Tamiflu can be sold in the market but only on doctors’ prescriptions, he added.

More Hanoi students infected

The Education and Training Department of Hoan Kiem District in Hanoi Tuesday reported a seventh-grader at Nguyen Du Junior High had tested positive for the H1N1 virus on Monday. The school was sterilized Tuesday and the classroom will be sealed for seven days.

Also on Tuesday, a fourth-grader at the Hanoi Academy International Primary School in Tay Ho District and a student of the Hanoi Sports and Gymnastic Education University was found infected with the virus.

The female student was staying in a dormitory with six other roommates who have been quarantined.

A temporary clinic was set up inside the university Tuesday with around 20 sickbeds and necessary medical equipment.

As of Tuesday, seven schools in the capital city have been infected by the H1N1 virus.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff