Manama (Bahrain), Aug 31 (DPA) A southeast Asian woman became the first person to die of swine flu in Bahrain, health officials in Manama said Sunday.
The deceased was a woman in her thirties from Southeast Asia who was brought to Salmaniya Medical Complex in critical condition, said Mohammed Amin al-Awadhi, chief of medical staff at the country’s main hospital.
Sources told the German Press Agency dpa that the deceased was a 30-year-old Filipino woman who was brought to the hospital Wednesday.
Health officials were reportedly coordinating with the Philippine embassy in Manama to identify the woman and determine how she entered the country.
“The medical staff could not determine the source of her infection, whether it originated inside or outside Bahrain, as she arrived to the hospital in a critical condition and it was not possible to ask her about the source of her infection,” al-Awadhi said.
He said she also had other diseases that hindered her response to treatment and contributed to her eventual death.
The Gulf island, which was the first of the six Gulf states to report a swine flu infection in late April, has dealt with more than 200 cases. The majority of cases were mild and the patients have recovered.
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