Jun 23, 2009 04:30 AM
A 6-year-old Brampton girl with swine flu died only a day after she began showing flu-like symptoms.
The child, who attended Roberta Bondar Public School, passed away a week ago and it was only discovered after she died that she had the H1N1 influenza virus.
The exact cause of death has not yet been determined, but the virus is known to have been a contributing factor, Dr. Arlene King, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, told a news conference yesterday.
The child got a fever and began vomiting on Sunday, June 14, and died the following day. An autopsy was performed and lab results revealed last Friday she did indeed have the virus. She is the fourth Ontarian with the virus to die.
Quebec health officials released a statement late yesterday afternoon to announce two new deaths in the province. They gave no details and did not return calls.
The deaths of the two Quebecers and the Brampton girl bring to 16 the number of Canadians to die after contracting swine flu.
Though the child, whose identity has not been made public, did not have any apparent pre-existing medical problems, the coroner's office is now trying to determine whether she had an undiagnosed condition. It's not known how the girl contracted the virus, but two members of her extended family had mild cases.
Officials are providing few details about the girl's death, including where she died. All King would say was that she did not die in hospital or at home.
Yesterday, Dr. David Mowat, medical officer of health for Peel, sent a letter to students, parents and staff at the elementary school, advising them that the girl was not symptomatic when she was in class.
"As such, the risk of transmission of H1N1 flu virus from this student to others in the school is very low," he wrote.
King said children at the school should continue attending class unless they feel ill. "At this time, we do not recommend that any schools be closed if there is a suspect or confirmed case," she said.
There have been more than 2,650 confirmed cases of swine flu in Ontario – and more than 5,700 across Canada – but most are considered mild with symptoms very similar to an annual seasonal flu.
Meantime, an international conference on disaster management being held in Toronto heard that private businesses are purchasing their own supplies of antiviral medications to prevent employees from being infected.
Amin Mawani, a professor with the Schulich School of Business at York University, said it's advisable for companies to take such measures to curb employee absenteeism and protect profits in the event that a second, more severe wave of the virus strikes in the fall.
"Pandemic planning can be viewed as insurance," he said.
But Alison Stuart, assistant deputy minister of public health, said the province is not advocating that such measures be taken.
"We have not recommended to either the health sector or more broadly to other sectors in Ontario that they stockpile antivirals as (preventative measures)."
With files from The Canadian Press
hat-tip: the foreignor
1 comment:
And I thought it was under control. But more and more people keep dying and more and more keep getting infected. I really hope the vaccine will be available soon and distributed to people in need. Thanks for the post,
take care, Lorne
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