JAPAN: New flu kills third in span of five days - 81-year-old is latest victim

. TOKYO, Japan / The Japan Times / Kyodo News / August 20, 2009 Pandemic back with vengeance The H1N1 swine flu pandemic claimed its third victim Wednesday as Nagoya health authorities confirmed that an 81-year-old woman from the city died early in the morning. Separately, at least five children hit by the new influenza, in Okinawa and Kumamoto prefectures and Kawasaki, were in serious condition and four were on artificial respirators as of Wednesday evening, local governments said. The latest death prompted health minister Yoichi Masuzoe to warn that the H1N1 flu pandemic, or "shingata infuruenza" (new-type influenza), may be back with a vengeance. Masuzoe said further attempts would be made to protect those most vulnerable to the flu — young people, pregnant women and those with chronic illnesses — by disseminating information on the highly infectious disease, which shut down several schools in the Kansai region after rapidly infecting hundreds of people, mostly high-school students, in late spring. The three children in Okinawa include two girls, aged 11 and 13, and a 1-year-old boy. All were hospitalized after developing serious fevers and flu symptoms. The Kawasaki patient is a 6-year-old boy, and the one in Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, is an elementary school girl who had an asthma attack. The Nagoya woman marks the third domestic fatality linked to the new flu in five days. First a 57-year-old Okinawa man died Saturday, then a 77-year-old Kobe man succumbed Tuesday. Nagoya officials said the woman had other underlining illnesses — multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, and a weak heart. She died of acute pneumonia. The Nagoya woman, who had never been abroad, was moved to an isolation ward Saturday after developing a 39.5-degree fever and severe coughing after hospitalization Thursday. She was belatedly diagnosed with H1N1 Tuesday. Doctors said they thought she had pneumonia. "If we had conducted a (flu) test at an earlier stage, we could have offered a different treatment," Makoto Utsumi, deputy head of Nagoya Medical Center, said Wednesday. Utsumi said the doctors did their best and it would have been extremely difficult to spot the disease earlier. Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said the deaths would not affect access to the Aug. 30 general election and no restrictions will be put on people's movements. The National Institute of Infectious Diseases said Tuesday the number of influenza patients reported per medical institution in Japan, considered mostly H1N1 patients, was at "near-epidemic" levels. Also, at least five players from a Shimane high school competing in the National High School Baseball Championship at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture also tested positive for H1N1, officials said. The flu bug has spread to the pro league as well. On Tuesday, three more players and a coach for the Nippon Ham Fighters tested positive for the flu, formally called influenza A (H1N1), after rookie catcher Shota Ono came down with it earlier. All key players on the Sapporo-based team underwent flu checks at a hospital in the city Tuesday, but no one tested positive, including ace pitcher Yu Darvish, 23, and Manager Masataka Nashida. The man in Kobe, whose name was not released, had several previously existing diseases, Kobe officials said. He lived in Tarumi Ward and was the second fatality in Japan linked to the virus. He had pulmonary emphysema, diabetes, high blood pressure and renal failure and was undergoing kidney dialysis three times a week. Although treated with Tamiflu, he died because the flu triggered acute bronchitis, which exacerbated his pulmonary emphysema and eventually killed him, the officials said. After developing a fever of 39 Sunday, he went to a doctor the next day. Suspecting pneumonia, the doctor tested him for H1N1 but found nothing. The virus was confirmed later. [rc] (C) The Japan Times Ltd.