MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - Three people have died of swine flu in eastern Siberia, Russia's health ministry said on Tuesday, citing local health authorities.
Earlier on Tuesday, regional authorities reported two fatal cases among patients suffering from the A/H1N1 virus. The chief sanitary official, Gennady Onishchenko, confirmed the deaths.
One of the victims, a 29-year-old woman, was pregnant. Doctors were unable to save the baby. The other victim was a 50-year-old woman.
"Three deaths confirmed as being from flu caused by the A/H1N1 virus have been reported in the Transbaikal region as of October 27," the ministry said adding that the region only reported the third fatality today.
The ministry said the three people had been hospitalized three or five days after feeling unwell.
"On the sixth or seventh day, their condition worsened suddenly, with pneumonia and respiratory failure observed in the patients," the ministry said in a news release.
A total of 1,349 swine flu cases were confirmed across Russia as of October 27. The outbreak of the new strain of the influenza was first reported in Mexico in April 2009 and has since spread worldwide.
Russia plans to start a swine flu vaccination program in December. Ten million people - medical staff, employees at electric power and water treatment plants and other facilities - will be given flu jabs in the first instance. Another 30 million will be vaccinated if the virus spreads.
