Jordan's swine flu death toll rises to 10 

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) H1N1-related deaths in the Kingdom rose to 10 after the registration of two new cases over the past week, a Ministry of Health statement indicated Wednesday.

The first case was a three-year-old girl who was admitted to King Abdullah II Hospital in Irbid on November 9 and died a few hours later.

The second victim was a 50-year-old man who died in Prince Hamzah Hospital six days after being hospitalised.

The statement also showed that the total number of swine flu cases stood at 2,604, with 293 new cases confirmed in the period between November 4 and 11.

Of the new cases, four are non-Jordanians, while 153 of the total are males.

The Health Ministry also indicated that 38 per cent of the new cases are among individuals aged between 10 and 19, 26 per cent are in the 20-29, age group and 10 per cent among those below 10 years or over 30.

Meanwhile, the ministry started vaccinating Jordanian pilgrims bound for Mecca yesterday, and called on those wishing to take the swine flu vaccine to refer to health directorates in the governorates.

The Kingdom's second batch of 2,500 pilgrims left for Mecca yesterday.

Officials at the ministry's headquarters were not available for comment on whether this group had been vaccinated before heading to the holy cities of Medina and Mecca, despite repeated attempts by The Jordan Times.

Officially, Jordan's Hajj quota as set by Saudi authorities is around 6,000 (1,000 per each million of the population) but Health Ministry officials have said the final number is around 10,000.

The third group of pilgrims is scheduled to leave the country on November 18.

Meanwhile, Saudi Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah said on Wednesday that nine people out of more than half-a-million who have arrived for the annual Hajj pilgrimage have been diagnosed with swine flu.

"The situation - from the point of health - we are very happy. Out of the 600,000 arriving so far, we have only seen nine suspected cases of A(H1N1), and only two of those are in the hospital," Rabeeah told Agence France-Presse, adding that the rest were treated and discharged.

Rabeeah said that altogether 70 people had died in Saudi Arabia this year from swine flu, none of them were pilgrims.

Concern has mounted about the possibility of a major outbreak of the disease during the Hajj, when more than three million Muslims are expected to converge on the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the second half of November, AFP reported.

The Riyadh government has deployed about 20,000 health workers to deal with flu and other health emergencies among pilgrims, Rabeeah said.

More than 6,000 deaths from A(H1N1) flu had been reported worldwide as of November 1, according to the World Health Organisation.

By Khetam Malkawi