First foreign fatality on mainland

A man wearing a mask photographs a monument of the goddess of the hunt, Diana, and her dogs, also wearing protective masks, in the Ukrainian city of Lviv Tuesday. The Ukrainian health ministry has raised the death toll from the flu and respiratory problems to 67. Photo: AFP
A Russian man who flew from his home country to Beijing on October 28 died of the A(H1N1) virus Monday, making him the first foreign victim reported on the Chinese mainland, the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau told the Global Times Tuesday.

The 32-year-old Russian national died at the Ditan Hospital, a day after he went to the hospital with breathing difficulties, hypoxia and respiratory failure.

It was not immediately known where the man contracted the infection.

The bureau refused to reveal the name of the victim and flight number when asked Tuesday, adding that it had contacted the Russian embassy.

A press officer at the embassy, who declined to be named, refused to confirm the case or provide the identity of the Russian victim, while Russian news agencies such as Itar-Tass relayed simi-lar news from China's Xinhua News Agency.

The Ditan Hospital was also reluctant to share the Russian man's information with the public.

The Chinese mainland had reported seven A(H1N1) flu deaths up until Monday. The Russian case was separate from the toll, Zhao Jin, a press officer with the Health Ministry, told the Global Times.

While the name of the city the victim flew from remained unknown, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported Tuesday that the death toll from A(H1N1) flu in Russia has reached 14, and 3,122 other cases have been confirmed.

As of October 25, the A(H1N1) global death toll had topped 5,700 and there were more than 400,000 confirmed cases reported to the World Health Organization.
In the United States, the spread of the flu has caused at least 1,000 deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported October 23.

South Korea raised its alert level Tuesday against the A(H1N1) flu from the second-highest to the top level due to rapid spread of the virus.

A total of 42 people have died in South Korea from the flu since mid-August, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

Expats divided over vaccine

More than 4 million people have so far been inoculated with the A(H1N1) vaccine, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

Some 300 people were reported to have adverse drug reactions (ADR), said Liang Xiaofeng, the director in charge of vaccination at the center.

"ADR cases related to the A(H1N1) flu vaccines are very few," he was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

"In some cases, when patients suffered from minor fevers and pains, their symptoms were not reported," he said.

"Health authorities are working with the World Health Organization to improve the monitoring network for ADR," he added.

The expat community is split over the question of whether to get the vaccination shot in China.

"I won't get a shot," Lucas Lee, a 26-year-old Canadian expat in Beijing, said. "But it has nothing to do with my faith in China," he said. "I usually don't take vaccines."
But parents of foreign students in China are worried about their children in the face of increasing flu cases.

"Many overseas students are concerned about whether they are eligible for the flu vaccine here in China," a teacher at the American Associated Colleges in China, surnamed Ma, told the Global Times.

"Some of their parents have consulted with us on the details of the flu vaccination plan," Ma said.

"Our clinic is not authorized to offer A(H1N1) vaccines. We haven't received any relevant inquiry by foreigners. But the number of people who receive seasonal flu vaccines remains more or less the same as last year," a staff member at the International Medical Center Beijing said.

Patients with fever higher than 37.5 C who turn to private clinics for medical consultancy would be transferred to public hospitals by ambulances, the staff member said, referring to government regulations.

The Ministry of Health on Monday denied an online rumor that the recent outbreak in Beijing was caused by the vaccination of students for the National Day celebration.

"The rumor violates scientific theories and is not consistent with the truth," ministry spokesman Mao Qunan was quoted as saying.

Primary and secondary school students in Beijing were given vaccine shots before the October 1 celebration.

And those vaccines led to the recent outbreak in the capital city, Xinhua said, citing unspecified foreign media reports.

Liang Chen and Guo Qiang contributed to this story

Source: Global Times