More commuters are seen wearing facial masks in Taipei as the A (H1N1) influenza spread in Taiwan. CNA

TAIPEI: The A (H1N1) virus has taken two more lives, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reported yesterday.

The two new fatalities were recorded in the central county of Changhua.

One of the victims was a 23-year-old Vietnamese woman who died two days after giving birth to a baby boy, health authorities reported. The woman, married to a Taiwanese man, was six months pregnant when she was admitted to Changhau Christian Hospital August 23 with severe flu symptoms, said Yeh Yen-po, director of the Chuanghua County government's health department.

She tested positive for A (H1N1) influenza the following day and was placed in an intensive care ward, according to her attending physician at the hospital.

The woman was given the antiviral drug Tamiflu, but her condition failed to improve, the physician said, adding that her womb could not function normally because she had breathing difficulties.

On September 11, the woman gave natural birth to a baby boy who was not breathing and had no heartbeat at the time.

"After emergency treatment, the infant is now in stable condition and has not shown any flu-like symptoms," the physician said, adding that laboratory tests also gave him a clean bill of health.

However, his mother's health deteriorated after the delivery and she died Sunday despite emergency efforts to resuscitate her, the physician said.

According to the physician, the woman developed a fever, muscle pains and other flu-like symptoms August 16, but did not go to hospital until August 23 when her condition worsened.

The Vietnamese woman became the 14th H1N1-related fatality recorded in Taiwan, the CECC said yesterday.

Earlier Sunday, an 8-year-old girl with cerebral palsy also succumbed to swine flu, becoming the 13th H1N1 fatality in Taiwan, according to the CECC.

The girl lived with her parents and had never attended school, Yeh said, adding that neither of her parents has shown any flu-like symptoms.

The girl developed a fever August 31 and was hospitalized September 2 at a medical center in central Taiwan where she had been having treatment for cerebral palsy. She was reported as a severe H1N1 case September 8 and died September 13.

A total of 222 patients throughout Taiwan have so far been hospitalized with severe H1N1 symptoms, and 14 of them have died, according to CECC statistics.

Sixty-one of the patients remain in hospital and the others have recovered and been discharged, according to Steve Kuo, director-general of the Centers for Disease Control under the Department of Health who concurrently serves as CECC spokesman.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 09/15/2009 page2)