Man dies of H1N1 in metro hospital

A patient yesterday died from the H1N1 virus, the so-called swine flu which swept nationwide in 2009, at a hospital in the metropolitan region as concerns grew about the spreading of other viruses, including foot-and-mouth disease and avian flu.

According to Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a 29-year old man visited a hospital on Monday complaining of a fever and muscle aches. The next day, it found he was infected with the H1N1 virus and sent him home. The hospital prescribed antibiotics.

The patient’s symptoms worsened early Wednesday morning and he was hospitalized. He died later that day.

You Dong-sook, a 36-year old actress, died from H1N1 in November after being infected while attending a film festival in Rome. Whether Wednesday’s victim travelled abroad has not been confirmed, the center said. The number of confirmed H1N1 cases in Korea stands at 23 out of 1,000 people, a rate only half that of 2009. The Health Ministry says the virus has weakened enough to be considered only as dangerous as normal influenza.

By Kim Hee-jin [heejin@joongang.co.kr]