Via the Daily Star: Beirut's International College to close for 6 days over H1N1 cases. Excerpt:
Caretaker Health Minister Mohammad Jawad Khalifeh on Sunday warned expectant mothers to be wary of the A(H1N1) virus after ordering an investigation to determine whether the death of a young pregnant woman was caused by the infection.
The woman, whose name has not been disclosed, was hospitalized Friday at a hospital in Bekaa’s Riyak area, with advanced symptoms of pneumonia, the National News Agency reported. Although she appeared to respond to initial medication, the woman developed a high temperature on Sunday.
After the hospital chief Mohammad Abdullah contacted Khalifeh Sunday morning to report the suspected swine-flu case, the woman was transferred to a hospital in Beirut but died shortly after arrival.
If Abdullah’s suspicions are confirmed, the woman will be the first woman in Lebanon to have died of the virus. There have already been two other swine-flu-related deaths.
Speaking to the National Broadcasting Network (NBN), Khalifeh said pregnant women should “worry” about the virus as they and their unborn babies are especially vulnerable to catching swine flu.
The death comes as private school International College (IC) announced it would be shutting its middle school in Beirut for six days starting Tuesday because of the high number of students suffering from the virus.
In a letter posted on the school’s website Saturday, IC President John Johnson said 50 students were absent from classes on Friday alone.
“To date we have had 31 cases of this influenza in the Ras Beirut Middle School, 12 of whom have already recovered and returned to school,” he said.
Johnson said IC was following regulations issued by the Center for Disease Control, which required siblings of swine flu patients to also stay at home for a five-day incubation period.
All students are requested to stay at home and avoid contact with classmates until the school reopens on November 2
