A 26-year-old pregnant Egyptian woman from the coastal city of Alexandria died of swine flu on Sunday, raising to eight the fatalities from the deadly H1N1 virus as infections have neared 3,000 in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country."An Alexandria woman died of the A/H1N1 after she was put on the ventilator for two days. She was pregnant in her ninth month," Egypt's Health Ministry spokesman Abdul Rahman Shahin said yesterday
He added that the woman had been admitted to a public fever hospital suffering from pneumonia in the Mediterranean city on Saturday. "However, it was too late to rescue her."The number of cases infected with the deadly virus reached 2,666 on Sunday, according to the Cabinet Information and Decision-Support Centre (IDSC) figures, with over 1,000 of those reported among students.Minister of Health Dr Hatem el-Gabali said yesterday that one million and a half schoolchildren would have shots of swine flu vaccines in January as soon as the second batch of the medicine arrive from abroad."Our preventive plan against the virus focuses on pupils. Therefore, they will be vaccinated when 1,2 million doses arrive in two months," Dr el-Gabali said.According to him, the situation is 'fully under control'. "Egypt is among the five countries, which have the least infections and deaths of the virus, according to the World Health Organisation.Out of the eight reported deaths, seven have been women, which has sparked concern among health authorities in the country over treatment and education of the women population.Egyptian pilgrims travelling to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage at the end of November have all been vaccinated against the virus. Officials are hoping that by vaccinating pilgrims, they will avoid a fresh outbreak of the disease, which could be calamitous as around three million people converge on Mecca for the annual Muslim rituals. The major concern for the Egyptian Government is that pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia, having contracted the virus, would spread it among local communities.Egyptian Education Minister Youssri el-Gamal, meanwhile, denied any plan to shut down schools, saying that the school year would continue after the 10-day vacation of the Muslim feast Eid al-Adha, starting on November 26."No cuts of curricula is planned, and the school year will go on after the vacation, which ends on December 4," el-Gamal said.The Government has taken measures to contain the virus. It has issued public statements warning parents of students to take precautionary measures against swine flu such as avoiding crowded spaces and maintaining personal hygiene.All in all, the deaths added fuel to an already growing swine flu panic in Egypt. It comes amid countering claims of the virus' true impact across Egypt.
