Swine flu toll rises with third Turkish fatality

In a statement released late Thursday, the ministry said the third swine flu victim was a woman who was hospitalized on Oct. 25 in Konya on suspicion of pneumonia. She reportedly had a chronic disease which exacerbated the effects of swine flu. The Health Ministry announced that with the death of the woman, Ü.S., the number of swine flu fatalities in Turkey has increased to three. It was also announced that 16 of the more than 1,400 current H1N1 cases in the country have been hospitalized for treatment, with three in critical condition. The brother of Ü.S., A.S., told the Anatolia news agency that his sister, who was disabled, died on the same day she was hospitalized although they thought she was simply suffering from seasonal influenza. “After tests performed after her death showed that she was infected by the swine flu virus, we [other family members] were also tested for swine flu. The results of our tests were negative,” he said. Turkey's first swine flu death occurred last Saturday in Ankara, when Mustafa Güneş died at Ankara's Atatürk Sanatorium after undergoing treatment.

The country’s second swine flu victim, Beşire Bozkurt, who was pregnant with twins, reportedly came to Diyarbakır’s Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital on Oct. 26 and underwent a caesarean operation. But both babies died at birth, and Bozkurt’s condition started to deteriorate following the operation. While she was suspected to have had a pulmonary infection, she was diagnosed with swine flu after she failed to respond to medication for pulmonary infection.

Bozkurt died around 2 p.m. on Thursday. The Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital made a statement following the death of the woman and noted that she had been infected by the virus before she was hospitalized, as she displayed symptoms of pulmonary infection, which are similar to those of swine flu.

The ministry warned people in high-risk groups, in particular pregnant women, children below the age of 2 and sufferers of chronic diseases, and said they should be hospitalized when symptoms of swine flu emerge. “Those not included in these groups should rest at home when swine flu symptoms emerge, but they should immediately consult a doctor if they have difficulty breathing, chest pain, fever persisting for more than three days, constant vomiting or somnolence.”

The Health Ministry plans to begin administering vaccines against H1N1 on Nov. 2, starting with health workers. In a statement released on Thursday, the ministry announced that health personnel would start getting shots on Monday, as no adverse effects had been observed during tests of the country’s supply of swine flu vaccine. The next group to be vaccinated will be pilgrims embarking on the hajj over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, the number of swine flu cases continues to increase across the country, prompting officials to step up measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Two crew members of a ship operating under an Italian flag which docked in the Port of İzmir on Thursday were diagnosed with swine flu. Deputy İzmir Governor Şükrü Kara said necessary precautions were taken and that the ship had already left the port by Thursday evening. “They were quarantined on the ship and did not disembark,” Kara said.

As the number of people diagnosed with swine flu continues to increase across the country, now nearing 1,500, efforts to prevent the spread of the virus have intensified. In Konya, where the third swine flu death was reported, schools are being disinfected against the virus. Konya provincial education director Halil Şahin said they plan to complete the disinfection of schools by Sunday. Schools in the Central Anatolian province of Karaman, in the western Black Sea province of Bolu and the Aegean province of Muğla are also being disinfected.

Turkey reported its first case of swine flu in May. The number of cases had been increasing slowly in the country up until recently, when figures almost doubled in a week.