VANCOUVER - British Columbia reported its first death from pandemic swine flu on July 14: a child in the Fraser Health region. A young woman in the same region has also died in connection with H1N1.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control issued a release on the two cases, stating:
The child, who had underlying medical conditions increasing the risk of influenza complications, was admitted to hospital on Sunday and died within 24 hours of admission. Testing has confirmed the child did have the H1N1 flu virus.
The woman, who also had an underlying medical condition, was admitted to hospital last Wednesday. Although this patient was not confirmed to have the H1N1 flu virus herself, she resided with a person who did have the virus.
The BCCDC release put the cases in context:
So far, illness caused by the H1N1 flu virus is not substantially different than regular seasonal influenza, which itself can result in between 400 and 800 deaths in British Columbia each year.
Currently, there have been a total of 382 confirmed H1N1 cases in B.C., with 191 of those occurring in the Fraser Health region. Overall, 14 patients with H1N1 have been admitted to hospital and five of those 14 have been admitted to the intensive care unit.
According to the Guardian newspaper, the British government expects the United Kingdom to see 100,000 new H1N1 cases per day by the end of August.
Crawford Kilian is a contributing editor of The Tyee.
