The swine flu may claim first victim

PANAMA. A newly born of only 27 days, is fighting for his life after contracting the A1/H1N1 flu virus.

The infant was admitted to the Children’s Hospital last week with respiratory problems. The doctors suspected that he has the flu and decided to testfor the A1/H1N1 virus.

According to the medical director of the Children’s Hospital, Dr Alfredo Bissot, the child tested positive to the A1/H1N1 on Friday and currently the health authorities are trying to make contact with his relatives and other persons with whom the child could have been in contact.

Doctors in charge of the baby’s care said that his condition is critical, mainly due to his young age and the fact that his immune system is not fully developed.

He has been treated with antiviral drugs to control the infection, but the treatment is not working and the child appears to be weaker by the minute.

Meanwhile, the Epidemiology Department Chief, Dr Gladys Guerrero said that the number of confirmed cases of the virus will increase to at least 200, which is expected because it is highly infectious and its ability to survive in the environment.

For that reason it is very important for the population to maintain the basic hygienic measures.

Since the discovery of the virus in the country, the Health Authorities had closed more than half dozen of schools in the capital city in an effort to try to stop the spread of the so called swine virus.

So far there has not been any fatalities in the country and the majority of the cases have been treated with antiviral drugs and the patients have stayed in isolation at home.

The majority of those affected by the A1/H1N1 virus are under 15-years-old and the region the most cases are the districts of Panama and San Miguelito where a great percentage of the population is concentrated.

Meanwhile, The UN health agency says at least 25,288 people around the world have contracted swine flu, and that 139 have died.

Monday's tally by the World Health Organization includes 3,348 new cases, mostly in the United States. It also adds 14 deaths - 10 in the US, three in Mexico and a first in the Dominican Republic. The WHO says people in 73 countries have now been infected with swine flu.

Most of the new cases were reported by the United States, with 2,163 new infections, bringing its total caseload to 13,217, including 27 deaths.

So far, most cases of swine flu around the world appear to be mild, albeit with diarrhoea more common than it is with seasonal flu.

The world is closer to a flu pandemic than at any point since 1968 – upgrading the threat from four to five on a six-point scale following a meeting on Wednesday.

This means all governments have to mobilize their pandemic flu plans. Flu experts are watching the situation in Australia and Chile carefully as they are part of the southern hemisphere which is entering the flu-prone winter season.

Meanwhile, the Cayman Islands, Dominica and the United Arab Emirates reported a case each to the WHO for the first time.

Trinidad and Tobago also joined the list of countries with infections, after reporting two new cases.

Some affected countries no longer keep track of all cases according to the WHO, while others do not report daily.

The WHO is now only updating its tally three times a week, rather than daily.

The American company Novavax, which began working on a vaccine for the N1H1 virus earlier this year, says it produced the first batch of the vaccine in May. Novavax uses a technology that greatly speeds the time it takes to make vaccines. It says it has now completed the genetic engineering and manufacture of the stock needed to mass produce the virus.