The Ministry of Health confirmed on September 30 one more death from swine flu, that of a pregnant, 15-year-old woman in Cam My District in the southern province of Dong Nai.
It took Vietnam’s death toll to 16 in less than two month after the first fatality.
The victim was taken to the province hospital on September 25 with breathing problems and tiredness. The next day she was transferred to Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City where doctors decided she was in bad state and surgically removed her child, a 2.7-kilogram girl. The woman had been 39 months into her term.
Doctors continued to treat her with antibiotics but her condition deteriorated and she died on September 29.
Vietnam has confirmed 205 new cases of A/H1N1 flu, taking the country’s tally to 9,058, including the 16 deaths.
The health sector and local administrations must work closely together to monitor the spread of the flu to contain it, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said at a meeting of the National Steering Board for Flu Prevention on September 30.
He said the growing number of infections and deaths is causing concern for the Government and public.
The mortality rate in Vietnam is 7 per cent lower than the world rate while the infection is 38 per cent higher as a ratio of the population.
Mr. Nhan said military hospitals should admit swine-flu victims, the purchase of vaccines should be done as soon as possible so that people in high-risk groups are immunized before winter, a season conducive for the spread of the flu.
