A second Ottawa resident has died in relation to the H1N1 virus.
A woman in her 80s died in hospital Wednesday, said Ottawa’s Associate Medical Officer of Health.
Both the woman, and the teen who died last month, had underlying medical conditions, Dr. Vera Etches said Thursday. Another woman from outside Ottawa also died in hospital here.
In the last week, Ottawa had six new lab-confirmed cases of Influenza A (H1N1) also known as swine flu, bringing the total to 356 cases, said Etches.
While the ages of patients range from less than a year old to 84 years old, half of those affected are children and teens, Etches said.
There have been 62 people hospitalized with H1N1 in Ottawa, half of which are under the age of 18.
There are currently three people in hospital, Etches said.
While the first cases reported in Ottawa occurred in patients who had traveled recently, the cases reported now are spread person-to-person within the city. Less than one per cent of people in Ontario who have been linked with the virus had been travelling, said Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nadine Sicard.
Still in the developmental stages, the vaccine for H1N1 will be a separate vaccine from the seasonal flu vaccine, Sicard said. While healthcare workers will not be required to get the vaccine, chairman of the Hospitals Emergency Preparedness Committee of Ottawa Thomas Hayes said workers who show symptoms are required to stay home for at least seven days.
