Serbia confirms first A/H1N1 death

Serbian authorities confirmed that a 46-year-old woman died of the A/H1N1 virus on Wednesday, in the Balkan country's first death from the deadly novel flu.

The female patient with a severe form of A/H1N1 virus died in the emergency hospital center at Kragujevac in central Serbia, where she had received treatment for the disease since Oct. 5, the official Serbian news agency Tanjug reported, citing local health officials.

Doctors believed that the woman contracted the virus from her son, who is a professional driver and travels around Europe frequently.

"Since he (the son) is a young guy, the disease probably went by unnoticed with him. She's 46, so the disease has affected her more seriously," said Zoran Todorovic, head of the Kragujevac Infective Clinic.

Since the A/H1N1 flu vaccine has yet to arrive in Serbia, health officials are advising people to first get vaccinations for seasonal flu.

Predrag Kon, head of the Serbian Ministry of Health workgroup for monitoring the A/H1N1 epidemic, said on Wednesday that there was no reason for fear and fatal outcomes were extremely rare with that flu.

Kon told the national television that the situation had not changed after the death of the female patient, except in psychological terms, because everyone would take the flu seriously from now on.

Serbia's health officials said that some 130 laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus had been recorded in the country as of mid-October.

Source: Xinhua