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Dutch patient dies of flu

News item | 10-08-2009

New Influenza A (H1N1) has claimed its first life in the Netherlands. The patient was a 17-year-old boy who had been seriously ill before contracting the virus.

The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced that the boy died in the early hours of 4 August of New Influenza A, also known as Mexican flu.

Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Ab Klink has expressed his condolences to the boy's family.

The minister stressed that most people who come down with the disease will only have mild symptoms. 'Unfortunately, as with other strains of flu, New Influenza A can occasionally be fatal, but we are doing our utmost to keep this number as low as possible.'

In the Netherlands, 912 people have been diagnosed with New Influenza A since April. Seventeen have been hospitalised, some of whom have since been discharged. Of the 188,139 confirmed cases worldwide, there have been 1,265 deaths.