VietNamNet Bridge – A little girl from HCM City is reported to have died on August 3 because of type A/H1N1 influenza.

The child was hospitalized at the Children’s Hospital 2 on July 30 with clear symptoms of swine flu, such as a high fever and difficulty breathing.

Doctors tried their best to save the child but she grew weaker because of pneumonia, which led to breathing failure.

The girl studied at a school for mentally challenged children. Her class has two teachers and over 30 students.

Local health workers decontaminated the environment where the child lived and they have kept the people who had contact with the girl under surveillance.

This is the first type A/H1N1 patient and the first death after four months without any reported cases of swine flu (March 20 to July 30).

Appearing in April 2009, the influenza has spread to over 160 countries in the world. It came to Vietnam in May 2009, affecting over 10,000 people, with over 50 deaths. The epidemic cooled down in late 2009.

Doctors said that most of the dead patients were those who have weak immune systems (old people, children, pregnant women and people who had other diseases) and those who went to the hospital too late to receive effective treatment.

According to the World Health Organisation, the type A/H1N1 pandemic still exists in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Western Africa and Central America.

PV