H1N1 suspected in baby death

A five-month old baby from Karawang, West Java, has died, allegedly from the H1N1 virus at the Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung.

The baby, who was not named, died Saturday after being treated at the hospital since Thursday.

“He was in bad condition since being admitted here,” Primal Sudjana, one of the doctors tasked with handling special infection cases at the hospital, said Sunday.

The baby had been suffering from pneumonia when the Efarina Etaham Hospital transferred him to the Hasan Sadikin Hospital.

He had been running a fever since Nov 25, the family said.

Alma Lucyati, the head of the provincial health agency, said her office would conduct a test to confirm the cause of death.

Between May and December this year, the hospital received 23 cases of people suspected of being infected with the H1N1 virus, eleven of which have been positively identified as H1N1. Two of these H1N1 patients died.

Source: Yuli Tri Suwarni , The Jakarta Post , Bandung | Sun, 12/06/2009