CAIRO: A 53-year-old man from Helwan died of H1N1, bringing the total number of swine flu deaths in Egypt to 22, the Ministry of Health's spokesperson Abdel Rahman Shahin said. Ali Mohamed Rashad was admitted to Al Salam International Hospital, a private hospital in Maadi, on Wednesday Nov. 25 in a critical condition, suffering severe respiratory problems and difficulty breathing. He was put on a ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). According to medical history reports, Rashad had been suffering from renal failure. While Al Salam International Hospital is allowed to take in swine flu cases, it is not equipped to conduct the H1N1 test. Therefore a sample was taken from the patient on Nov. 25 to a Central Laboratory that is an affiliate of the Ministry of Health, according to the press statement by the ministry. The results came back one day later indicating that the patient was infected with H1N1. Swine flu tests can only be conducted at these public laboratories. Health Minister Hatem El-Gabali approved conducting H1N1 tests at private laboratories that meet certain requirements but so far none have been approved, according to the ministry's press office. The swine flu death toll jumped last weekend during Eid El-Adha holiday, with eight deaths reported over three days. In its weekly update on the H1N1 pandemic last Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that as of Nov. 22 more than 207 countries worldwide and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1, including over 7,820 deaths. "As many countries have stopped counting individual cases, particularly of milder illness, the case count is likely to be significantly lower than the actual number of cases that have occurred. WHO is actively monitoring the progress of the pandemic through frequent consultations with the WHO regional offices and member states and through monitoring multiple sources of data, the release stated. Egypt has stopped issuing daily updates on the number of swine flu cases reported last week, instead there will only be weekly swine flu updates with the total number of new cases reported that week. According to the ministry, epidemiologists say that at this point, any number of reported cases is no longer surprising and that it is unlikely that there will be an unexpected spike in deaths. However, any swine flu related deaths are announced immediately, as well as the names of schools which will be closed down as a result of the virus.
