H1N1 death toll hits 70

KUALA LUMPUR: A three-year-old child has died of Influenza A(H1N1), raising to 70 the death toll from the disease in the country.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said today the child died on Aug 18 of encephalitis with cerebral odema and multi-organ failure.

He also said that 52 new cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) were admitted to hospitals while 162 ILI patients were discharged, leaving 1,354 ILI patients in 82 hospitals nationwide.

Mohd Ismail said in a statement that treatment was first administered to the child on Aug 12 after he was found to be suffering from fits and cough for two days.

However, the following day, the child's condition worsened, requiring admission to the intensive care unit and treatment with the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, he said.

Mohd Ismail said that of the 1,345 patients in hospital, only 202 or 15% had been confirmed as H1N1 positive, and 42 of these cases were under intensive care.

"Of the 42 cases under intensive care, 38 are in the risk category, having chronic illnesses (15), being obese (nine), suffering from diabetes (six), being children or infants (three), women who were pregnant or in the post-delivery period (three) or suffering from Down's syndrome (two)," he said. — Bernama