RIYADH: The Ministry of Health reported on Thursday that a 12-year-old Saudi girl has succumbed to swine flu in Al-Ahsa, Eastern Province, which brings the reported death toll in the Kingdom to seven.
“The little girl with special needs had an incomplete central nervous system,” the ministry pointed out. “She was admitted to hospital on Tuesday. She developed a high fever and pneumonia accompanied by acute chest pain. She was diagnosed to have contracted the H1N1 virus and died on Wednesday.”
While offering condolences to the bereaved family, the ministry drew the attention of the public to the World Health Organization’s statement that though the infection is pandemic most of the cases have been cured quickly and that there was no call for worry. The ministry also called on the public not to panic because of the deaths. The rate of death from swine flu is still well below that of the common flu.
The first swine flu death in the Kingdom was reported from Dammam in the Eastern Province on July 27. The other deaths occurred in Dammam, Qassim, Abha and Riyadh in a span of 10 days. On receiving reports of the disease occurring in the Kingdom, the Ministry of Health alerted all health departments in the Kingdom to take extra precautions. It also advised the public to follow Health Ministry guidelines.
