Posted: 27 May 2009 0457 hrs
A woman wears a mask in Grand Central Station in New York.NEW YORK - Two more New Yorkers who were suffering from H1N1 flu have died, although it is not confirmed the disease was the main cause of death, the city's top health official said Tuesday.
Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said a woman aged 41 and a man of 33 had died.
"Both have culture-confirmed novel H1N1 (flu). Both have died," he said in a televised press conference.
However, since both also suffered from other conditions, "determining exactly whether that death is from that flu infection is difficult," he said.
"Until the medical examiner's report, we won't know what else is going on. Our presumption may be that (H1N1 flu) contributed in some way or other. Whether it was the main cause the autopsy will tell."
Two people have been confirmed dying from the H1N1 virus in New York so far and dozens of schools have been temporarily closed after outbreaks.
Frieden said the previous two deaths were quickly confirmed as being caused by H1N1 flu, while the latest two occurred without medical observers present and therefore could not be immediately certified.
Meanwhile, Ecuador said it had closed its two New York consulates for the week because an official there has a suspected case of H1N1 flu.
More than 12,000 H1N1 flu infections have been confirmed across 43 countries since the virus emerged in the Americas a month ago, according to the most recent World Health Organisation statistics.
More than 6,700 cases have been reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far there have been 11 confirmed deaths across the United States, with another unconfirmed report of a death in Chicago on Monday.
- AFP /ls
From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.
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