Deadly Flu Hits Iran

On February 2, Ali Tayebi reported on his Facebook page that his 37- year-old cousin, Mohmmad Taheri, had died at five am that morning at Imam Reza Hospital in Tehran.

According to Tayebi, who is a lectuer in public health, Taheri had been suffering from swine influenza (H1N1), and had spent five days in the hospital’s intensive care unit. He said medical staff failed to diagnose his cousin early enough. The Management Center for Epidemic Diseases at the Ministry of Health confirmed that Taheri had died as a result of contracting the H1N1 virus. 

Medical publication Sepid Newspaper spoke to Mohammad Mehdi Guya, the director of the center. “We are currently going through a seasonal influenza epidemic,” he said. “The outbreak has escalated in the last week, particularly in certain provinces, including Semnan, Northern Khorasan, Fars and Eastern Azarbaijan. Twenty-eight patients have been hospitalized due to acute respiratory inflammations resulting from the same type of flu. Their conditions are life-threatening.” Guya said he expected further cases of flu to emerge in the coming weeks, and that the health ministry had identified several strains of flu virus that could pose serious risks to the public, including type B, H1N1, and H3N2 varieties. He added that medical officials no longer referred to the H1N1 virus as swine or pig flu, but as a seasonal flu.

“There are ways to prevent this flu,” Guya said. “We recommend those prone to it, such as patients suffering from respiratory, cardiac, kidney and liver insufficiencies, as well as cancer patients — particularly if undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy — and pregnant women, to be vaccinated before it is too late. Observing proper hygiene is also vital.”

“Those suffering from colds who experience severe symptoms should listen to their doctors and not leave home until they recover. This is particularly important for children, as their immune systems are more fragile.”

On his Facebook page, Ali Tayebi posted: “Without a doubt, my cousin was not the first victim of this virus. The hospitals are now in a state of emergency in this regard... My cousin caught the virus from somebody else — and now all those who had been in close contact with him should be closely monitored by their doctors.”

Read the original article in Persian