TAIPEI: A 19-year-old girl in Taipei County has died of influenza A(H1N1), the 27th fatality from the new flu strain recorded in Taiwan, the Central Epidemics Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.

The victim, who suffered from lupus and cardiomyopathy, could have been infected with the virus in a hospital, according to officials of Taipei County's Public Health Bureau.

The girl was first hospitalized September 22 suffering from low blood pressure, the officials said. During the hospital stay, however, she was diagnosed with kidney stones and developed a urinary tract infection, which led to bacterial septicemia and a fungal infection.

She was later also diagnosed with influenza A and died October 24, they said.

The results of tests released October 27 show that she was infected with the H1N1 virus.

Meanwhile, CECC statistics show that there were 10 more patients hospitalized with the flu strain than a day earlier.

The total number of such cases since the outbreak began reached 447, with 36 of the patients remaining in hospital, the CECC said.

As of Tuesday, 809 classes in 427 schools around Taiwan remained closed because of H1N1 infections among the students. The number of affected classes accounted for 0.54 percent of the total number of Taiwan classes, according to the CECC.

Chou Jih-haw, deputy director-general of the Centers for Disease Control, said there has recently been an obvious increase in the number of students infected with the flu strain, especially in junior high and elementary schools.

Over the past several weeks, the number has been rising at a rate of 10 percent to 20 percent per week, Chou said.

Chou reminded the public that schools and parents who fail to comply with measures adopted by the government to contain the H1N1 outbreak can be fined up to NT$15,000 under the Communicable Disease Control Act.

These measures include closing a class for five days whenever two students in the class are diagnosed with flu-like symptoms in three days.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 10/29/2009 page2)