3rd death in Malaysia related with A H1N1

PUTRAJAYA, July 28 (Bernama) -- The death toll due to the Influenza A (H1N1) in the country rose to three Tuesday with the death of another patient.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the latest victim was a 42-year-old Malaysian male who was confirmed of having the Influenza A (H1N1) on Thursday.

He said the man had been unwell since July 6 and had been seeking outpatient treatment from several clinics and private hospitals.

He said the man was later admitted to a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur on July 18 as his condition deteriorated and was diagnosed as having pneumonia, and while he was in the ward, he was found to be suffering from Diabetes Mellitus while an x-ray showed that he was suffering from pneumonia.

"On July 19, the patient was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as he was having breathing problems and needed to use the ventilator. As the case was becoming more acute, a throat sample was taken on July 22 and he was confirmed positive for Influenza A (H1N1) on July 23.

"However, the patient had suffered various complications and died on July 27 (yesterday) at 4.40 pm due to severe pneumonia with multiorgan failure 10 days after seeking treatment," he told reporters here Tuesday.

Liow, who expressed regret over the incident, said all clinics and hospitals in the country should take immediate steps in tracing patients infected with Influenza A (H1N1) so that immediate treatment could be given.

"From this case you can see that this patient has gone round a few clinics since he was not well from July 6 until July 18 when his condition was deteriorating, but yet the clinic didn't take any swab sample for H1N1.

"So I would like to urge all clinics and hospitals to be vigilant, to be effective and to take immediate action and measures in any suspected influenza case. There are a lot of cases coming in with pneumonia but they have to test whether it's H1N1. They have to take this immediate step," he said.

On the current situation, Liow said 95 new cases of Influenza A (H1N1) had been detected, all of them being local cases among Malaysian citizens, of which 68 were from 19 new clusters, 22 cases from 11 existing clusters while five cases were sporadic or isolated ones.

He said the total accumulated cases had so far increased to 1,219 cases, of which 574 cases or 47 per cent were imported cases while the remaining 645 cases or 53 per cent were locally infected cases.

-- BERNAMA