Youth was treated with Tamiflu
Photo: AP
In the past 24 hours the Health Ministry counted three more cases of deaths from the H1N1 virus, known as swine flu, despite the fact that there is no proof the new virus is what caused the deaths.
A 22-year-old man died at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem Thursday morning. The man suffered from other serious illnesses and arrived at the hospital with severe pneumonia and a high fever and was immediately admitted to the intensive care ward.
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He was treated with the Tamiflu drug against swine flu before arriving at the hospital.
Two other patients died over night at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa: A man 66-year-old man who was admitted with serious illnesses as well as swine flu, and a 60-year-old female tourist with cancer. The woman was also diagnosed with the H1N1 flu.
According to Health Ministry data, so far 2,670 people have been diagnosed with swine flu in Israel, with many more believed to have contracted the virus and healed on their own.
Of the 2,670, only 22 were admitted to intensive care units, and 14 died.
The Health Ministry stressed that most of the fatalities from the flu, as well as most of the patients that needed to be hospitalized, were people suffering from severe chronic diseases unrelated to H1N1.
The Health Ministry said the youth that died Thursday morning also suffered from serious illnesses and that while it can not be determined for certain, swine flu can not be ruled out as a possible cause of death.
Therefore, the ministry decided to count the case as a swine flu-related death.