Although doctors say the two victims in their forties died of respiratory failure and critical pneumonia, the Health Ministry is yet to issue a formal pronouncement of the cause of death until its investigation is completed.

The ministry’s recent overview of H1N1-related deaths shows that the victims were admitted to hospital too late to benefit from treatment with the antiviral drug Tamiflu, and had chronic diseases or other problems including malnutrition that lessened their resistance to infection.

Also on Monday, the Hanoi Preventive Health Center reported that 5,293 people have been admitted to local hospitals with dengue fever since the beginning of this year.

More than 2,000 new cases have been diagnosed this month alone.

The mosquito-borne viral disease has turned up in every one of the city’s 29 districts and should peak in October or November, the center said.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff