CAIRO: Six swine flu related deaths were reported on Thursday, raising Egypt's death toll to 77, according to health ministry spokesperson Abdel Rahman Shahin. Three cases were announced early Thursday, including two pregnant women, a 23- and a 25-year-old. The third case was of a 12-year-old student. Later that day three more cases were announced; a 24-year-old man from Cairo who had pneumonia, a 62-year-old man from Giza whose medical history includes coronary artery problems and a seven-month-old boy with a birth defect. Minister of Health Hatem El-Gabaly is predicting that the number will reach 100 by the end of December and will even continue to rise well into January and February. Classes and several schools continue to shut down due to an increasing number of swine flu cases among students. Egypt has reported a total of 1,763 swine flu cases in schools since the beginning of the academic year last October. Of these, 1,440 cases have recovered and 327 are undergoing treatment. The Ministry of Health reported 937 swine flu cases last week, according to the latest weekly swine flu report.
