Pinoys in Austria more cautious after 1st reported A(H1N1) death
by Hector Pascua, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau, Austria | 11/03/2009 7:23 PM
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VIENNA, Austria – Majority of Filipinos in the Austria are now taking measures to prevent getting infected with the A(H1N1) virus.
Nenita Brier, a Pinay nurse in Vienna has already received vaccination against swine flu.
“Maganda nga at iniuuna ang mga personnel sa mga hospitals na bigyan ng vaccination dahil sila ang number one confronted sa disease,” Brier said after the government started implementing vaccination among the 280,000 health care personnel in the country.
Normal vaccination is set to begin on November 9, 2009. The Austrian Health Ministry is very much convinced that through vaccination, the spread of the disease could be minimized.
The ministry has confirmed that it has enough doses of pharmaceutical firm Baxter’s "Celvapan" swine flu vaccine.
Meanwhile, the health ministry officially reported its first death related to A(H1N1) flu on Monday, signaling a still worsening situation of the disease in the country.
An 11-year-old girl from South Tyrol died after several days in intensive care.
The health ministry announced in state-owned television ORF that the girl's immune system had run "out of control" after she suffered from a bacterial infection and was then infected by A(H1N1).
ORF further reported that the girl’s condition "clearly worsened" on Monday after her lungs had stopped functioning and she was put on a heart-lung machine to supply her with necessary oxygen.
Aside from this first death case of swine flu, the health ministry is cautiously monitoring two other seriously-ill swine flu patients.
An 18-year-old pregnant woman has been in intensive care since Thursday last week at the Hanusch Hospital in Vienna.
Filipino nurses working in the hospital told ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau that the young lady is now better and her situation, although still critical, had stabilized.
Another infected patient who was hospitalized in Salzburg provincial clinic with a serious bacterial lung infection is reportedly "better".
Last week, a school was forced to close in Lienz, East Tyrol after 26 students allegedly caught the virus. School officials confirmed to ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau that the closure would take about one week, depending upon the situation.
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