Flu Virus Plays Hand In Another Death in C.R.

The (A)H1N1 flu virus that has claimed 311 lives worldwide played a hand in the death of a 35-year-old woman from San José on Sunday.

The woman was suffering from a severe case of pneumonia when she was admitted to a San José hospital last week, health officials reported, and it was only after she died that the strain was detected.

“We haven’t identified any source,” said Daniel Salas, spokesman and doctor at the Health Ministry. “We are currently investigating where the strain could have come from.”

Costa Rica has 210 confirmed cases of the virus and two deaths, according to the latest numbers from the Health Ministry. In mid-May, a 53-year-old man from Heredia, north of San José, died of several health complications, the (A)H1N1 virus among them.

Symptoms are very similar to those of the common flu and can range from a mere stuffy nose to a combination of fatigue, high fever and body aches

According to recent numbers from the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been 70,893 cases worldwide. The WHO currently considers the situation a pandemic.

–Chrissie Long