|
September 09, 2009
|
|
| The A(H1N1) virus was the direct cause of the brain death of a woman who was infected with the new flu, health authorities confirmed yesterday. It’s the first case in Korea of a patient with the virus to have suffered brain damage. The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s headquarters in charge of the epidemic said its researchers conducted a series of thorough medical tests on the woman who was declared brain dead on Sept. 1. She tested positive for the new flu on Aug. 31. The Health Ministry said doctors had initially believed that a cerebral edema and hemorrhage had stopped her brain from functioning. But later tests showed that the cause of her brain death was encephalitis triggered by the flu infection. Doctors had debated whether her brain death was caused by the influenza or not. The patient wasn’t classified as “high risk” since she was not suffering from lung or heart ailments. According to the health authorities, four patients with the flu in the United States aged between 7 and 17 suffered from brain conditions including pediatric encephalitis, but they fully recovered. There are thought to be no other reports of adults with the new flu suffering brain damage in the world. “An influenza virus often causes neurological complications on the brain,” said Dr. Kim Sung-han of Asan Medical Center in Seoul. “The A(H1N1) virus is much stronger than seasonal influenza viruses, so there is a larger possibility that her brain death is linked to the new flu infection.” According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the brain-dead patient will officially be counted as part of the country’s death toll for the new flu, which has stayed at four since last week. The Health Ministry said 2,014 were newly infected with the virus last week. By Ser Myo-ja [myoja@joongang.co.kr] |
|
