Jamaica Records Third Swine Flu-Related Death

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Mar. 5, (CMC) – A 29-year-old woman, from the eastern parish of St. Mary, is the island’s third Influenza A (H1N1) or Swine Flu-related death.

The patient, who was 22 weeks pregnant with twins, died on Tuesday.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Winston De La Haye, said, she was in the high-risk group.

“She was airlifted to the University hospital on Feb. 21 and, unfortunately, she died on March 1. This is the first case where we are seeing the H1N1 listed among the cause of death. With the other two patients although they were positive for H1N1, the cause of death isn’t necessarily H1N1,” he said.

Two other women, including a medical doctor, have died from the virus since it was first reported here last month.

Meanwhile, De La Haye dismissed claims that 10 persons have died from H1N1-related illnesses at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

The Ministry of Health recently upgraded Swine Flu to a category one illness – meaning that within 24 hours of suspecting a case of severe acute respiratory illness, medical practitioners must report it to the health authority.