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First swine flu death suspected in Belarus

A 37-year-old woman resident in Drahichyn, Brest region, has become the first person to die in Belarus after catching H1N1 (swine) flu, according to the local center of hygiene, epidemiology and public health.

The regional center established that the woman had had swine flu, Aleh Arnautaw, the region’s chief sanitary officer, said at a news conference held in Brest on November 3.

The findings are yet to be approved by the National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, the officer stressed.

The woman, a teacher at a local school, applied for medical assistance on October 26, saying that she fell ill on October 23, Mikhail Stakheyka, chief sanitary officer in the Drahichyn district, told BelaPAN.

She had a fever, headache and general body weakness.

The person was placed into the Drahichyn District Central Hospital where she was diagnosed with pneumonia, with anti-bacterial and anti-viral medications prescribed for her.

She died at 1:45 a.m. on October 30.

The woman visited Ukraine’s Kovel on October 10, Mr. Stakheyka said, noting that she had had a “number of accompanying diseases that could aggravate” her medical condition.

The woman’s daughter, 16, was hospitalized with flu-like symptoms on October 28. It is not yet clear whether she or other ill people who contacted her mother have swine flu.

According to the health ministry, there had been 59 confirmed cases of swine flu in Belarus as of November 1.