Hospital reports first H1N1-related death, number of cases tops 100

Andris Straumanis

November 10, 2009

Latvia has reported the first death from the H1N1 flu virus, while the number of confirmed cases in the country has topped 100, according to health officials.

A 56-year-old woman died Nov. 9 in the Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital from complications associated with the flu, according to a hospital press release.

The woman, who became ill after visiting Kaliningrad in late October, was admitted Nov. 3 to the hospital in Rīga. She was diagnosed with pneumonia and initially treated in the hospital’s pulmonology section, but then transferred to the intensive care unit.

Pēters Ošs, head of the hospital’s intensive care unit, said in a prepared statement that the H1N1 flu can have more serious consequences in patients with other medical conditions. The woman who died had previously been diagnosed with lung and kidney problems.

“People without other diseases rarely die of the flu,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state Infectology Center of Latvia reported Nov. 9 that the number of confirmed H1N1 cases has risen to 110. A week earlier only about 40 cases had been confirmed, according to the Ministry of Health.

The first confirmed case of H1N1 in Latvia was reported June 23.

Andris Straumanis is editor of Latvians Online.