Seventh death in Kuwait

"I regret to hear about this. Yet still I'm hoping for a positive outcome. Even without the swine flu, everyone ought to pay full attention on good and proper hygiene measures. For those who are susceptible, they need it tenfold. "

Kuwait’s Ministry of Health announced the seventh death caused by swine flu, of a man aged 70 years old, who suffered from diabetes, high-blood pressure, deficiencies in the coronary artery, as well as other heart problems.

Ministry of Health spokesperson Qais Al-Diwairi told KUNA that the fatality was a severe medical case, with many complications and high fever. Although he was treated with antibiotics, he did not respond to them and died.

The ministry expressed regret for the man’s death and offered condolences to his family. The recovery rate from swine flu cases in the country has reached 99 percent, and the percentage of cases and deaths registered in Kuwait regarding this disease is considered among the lowest internationally.

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Kuwait records 6th swine flu death

"Now, another one on 6th."

September 14, 2009
KUWAIT: Minister of Health Dr Hilal Al-Sayer announced the sixth H1N1 (swine flu virus) death in Kuwait. The deceased is a Kuwaiti woman in her fifties who was suffering from kidney failure, heart disease and other chronic diseases. She had been hospitalized for five days.

The Ministry of Health will hold regular press conferences every three weeks with the media to keep it updated, officials said. "We will provide the media with the latest news about the H1N1 virus through regular meetings with the media," said Dr Hilal Al-Sayer during the press conference yesterday.

The conference was attended by the Minister of Education and the undersecretaries and assisting undersecretaries from both ministries. The regulations and instructions made by the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the closure of schools are not random.

The WHO gave the choice to each country to decide its own regulations of closing its schools according to its local circumstances and in the case that one percent of its population was infected. I assure you that Kuwait will never reach this stage of the disease. It is not true that there are 30 or 40,000 H1N1 infected persons in Kuwait. Kuwait will apply the recommendations of the health, education, and university experts meeting that will be held as well," Al-Sayer further said.

Meanwhile, news spread about the increased price of a vaccine. "I care most about protecting the country from the H1N1 virus and not the price of the vaccine. Also, no vaccine will be imported to the country unless it was approved by the WHO," he pointed out. According to the Minister of Education, Dr Moudhi Al-Humoud, there are three H1N1 infected cases in private schools, of which two were cured already.

The third is now receiving treatment. "About 120 school clinics were divided into the different education areas. There will be 20 clinics in each educational area in cooperation with the Ministry of Health," said Al-Humoud. The Ministry of Education increased it efforts due to the emergency situation of the H1N1 virus.

We must follow procedures to decrease the danger of this disease, including the meetings with the Ministry of Health. Based on the recommendation of the Ministry of Health and the WHO about the danger of this disease on the life of students who are under 5-years-old and who have weak immune systems and the handicapped, the Ministry of Education issued a decision previously to delay the school year for the kindergarten and the schools with special needs in both the private and public sectors, but it has no
t been applied yet.

In addition, awareness instructions were given to the teachers for such situations," Al-Homoud concluded. Regarding the news about the need for two vaccines to cure the H1N1 virus, the spokesman of the Ministry of Health, Faisal Al-Dosary, told the Kuwait Times that it was not true. "Only one vaccine is enough. According to all the research conducted, one vaccine will cover 96 percent of the disease," he stated.

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