A/H1N1 flu death toll rises to five in Russia

The death of a 39-year-old woman in Siberian Krasnoyarsk region has brought the death toll of A/H1N1 flu in Russia to five, the country's Health Ministry confirmed on Thursday.

Doctors were unable to save the woman, who was hospitalized on Wednesday when she was already in critical condition, Deputy Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said.

A 53-year-old woman died of the pandemic in Moscow on Tuesday. Three other fatal cases were reported by the health ministry in eastern Siberia's Transbaikal region on the same day.

Russia's chief sanitary official, Gennady Onishchenko, said Tuesday that more than 1,300 A/H1N1 flu cases had been confirmed in the country.

Russia has launched mass production of two A/H1N1 flu vaccines. Skvortsova said the country will start the first vaccination program involving 10 million people on Nov. 9, one month earlier than the original schedule.

Source: Xinhua