H1N1 FLU VIRUS: 7-YEAR-OLD RAISES DEATH TOLL TO 25

H1N1 FLU VIRUS: 7-YEAR-OLD RAISES DEATH TOLL TO 25

(ANSA) - Milan, November 5 - The death toll from the H1N1 flu virus climbed to 25 on Thursday with the death of a seven year old girl near Milan.

Doctors said the girl, who suffered from a severe disability, was hospitalized last week with a case of pneumonia aggravated a flu infection.

The youngest of Italy's victims so far, the girl is the seventh flu victim in in two days and the third child to die with the virus since last weekend.

A total of six people died of the flu on Wednesday, the largest single-day loss of life for the virus so far.

In addition to a 13-year-girl in Monza and a 50-year-old radiology assistant in Rome, the flu also claimed an 18-year-old woman from Lecce, in the capital to be treated for cystic fibrosis.

The woman's family have blamed Rome hospital staff for her death saying that she contracted the virus in the hospital and should have been isolated from other patients.

One of the symptoms of cystic fibrosis are labored breathing and frequent chest infections.

Later on Wednesday, a 26-year-old man also suffering from a genetic disorder died from the flu in a hospital in Salerno, followed by a 14-year-old boy in Alessandria and a 17-year-old boy in Vercelli.

All of the victims on Wednesday also had severe pre-existing health conditions.

Responding to concerns over the rising number of flu deaths, Junio Health Minister Ferruccio Fazio said on Wednesday that the mortality rate of the virus in Italy was almost 100 times lower than seasonal influenza, which kills some 8,000 Italians every year.

According to Fazio, infections have been most prevalent among children under 14, nearly 5% of whom had already come down with the virus.

But he said there was no cause for concern as children were no more vulnerable to the virus than adults, even if they were more likely to become infected.

According to the health ministry, hospitals have vaccinated a total of 41,000 people so far between healthcare providers, patients with chronic diseases and pregnant women.

Fazio said the government would ship out two million doses of the vaccine by the end of the week, and hoped to begin immunizing small children in December.