02. 11. 09. - 16:00

• more General News news
• RSS Feed General News

02. 11. 09. - 16:00

Swine flu girl's condition worsens, doctors say

By Lisa Chapman

The condition of an 11-year-old girl from South Tyrol hospitalised in Innsbruck with swine flu has worsened, doctors said today (Mon).

They added the situation of her circulatory system had "clearly worsened" and her lungs had stopped functioning. She is on a heart-lung machine to supply her with necessary oxygen.

They said her condition was "extremely critical".

A Vienna doctor said last week that the girl might be suffering from a super bacteriological infection of the lungs as well as swine flu.

The girl – from South Tyrol, Italy – was hospitalised at Bolzano hospital two weeks ago with breathing difficulties and a high temperature before being transferred to Innsbruck at the end of the week after her lungs had collapsed.

She had been at Innsbruck Children’s Clinic since 23 October.

Meanwhile doctors say they are cautiously optimistic about two other seriously-ill swine flu patients.

Doctors at Hanusch Hospital in Vienna where an 18-year-old pregnant woman has been in intensive care since last Thursday said her breathing was now better and her situation, although still critical, had stabilised.

A spokeswoman for Salzburg provincial clinic said a 41-year-old German man who was hospitalised there last Wednesday with swine flu and a serious bacterial lung infection was "better" although still in an artificial coma.

He had been responding well to antibiotics for combating multi-organ sepsis, she added.

Swine flu also caused the closure of a school last week. East Tyrol authorities closed a school in Lienz for a week on Wednesday after 26 students were struck down with suspected swine flu.

Meanwhile, Austria’s 280,000 health-care personnel began to receive vaccinations against swine flu on Tuesday last week.

The vaccination of the 600,000 people at high risk – pregnant women and the chronically-ill – is set to begin on 9 November.

Health authorities say they have enough vaccine for 800,000 to be vaccinated by the end of November."

The ministry has received 520,000 doses of pharmaceutical firm Baxter’s "Celvapan" swine flu vaccine and will receive additional doses at the rate of 200,000 a week.

Health-insurance funds will cover the cost of the vaccinations except for a fee of 4.90 Euros a dose. Doctors recommend that people receive two doses of the vaccine three weeks apart.

Austrian Times

Related articles: medical focus

1. Alma cheese gets clean bill of health

   » General News 2010-03-18

   Cheese suspected of being contaminated with deadly listeria bacteria has been given a clean bill of health, it was announced today (Thurs).

2. Prepare for allergies, says pollen warning service

   » Panorama 2010-03-16

   The approach of spring poses the threat of a significant rise in pollution and allergies, the pollen warning service said yesterday (Mon).

3. Listeria cheese recalled again

   » General News 2010-03-15

   More cheese suspected of being contaminated with deadly listeria bacteria has been recalled.

4. Older people may benefit from being slightly overweight

   » General News 2010-03-15

   Being slightly overweight may protect older people from potentially dangerous infections, a study by Vienna Medical University’s Institute for Social Medicine has concluded.

5. Two more people develop listeria infections

   » General News 2010-03-11

   Two more people have been hospitalised with listeria bacteria infections, the Agency for Health and Nutrition Safety (AGES) announced today (Weds).

6. Obesity, youth and pregnancy up risk of swine flu

   » General News 2010-03-11

   People who are obese, young and pregnant are more likely than others to get swine flu, according to two doctors at Vienna Medical University’s Institute of Virology.

7. Safety office says firms responsible for proper internal controls

   » General News 2010-03-11

   The Styrian Safety Office said today (Thurs) in reference to the ongoing deadly cheese problem that firms were responsible for controls against use of ingredients that had already passed their expiration dates.

8. New prophylactic for MS victims

   » General News 2010-03-02

   New tablets with greater prophylactic effect than older remedies are available at pharmacies for multiple sclerosis victims, it was announced today (Tues).

9. System failure caused listeria contamination of cheese, admits firm

   » Business 2010-03-01

   Failure in warning and control systems was the cause of listeria contamination of eight brands of its Quargel cheese, Styrian dairy firm Prolactal said yesterday (Sun).

10. Toddler dies from meningitis

    » General News 2010-02-26

    A three-year-old girl who was initially thought to have the flu died at home from meningitis before she could be taken to hospital in Styria’s Hartberg district.

Expert warns of high avalanche danger
The danger of avalanches is very high and off-piste winter skiers should take extra care, an avalanche expert warned yesterday (Weds).

Vernal equinox on Saturday
The vernal equinox - the day on which the sun crosses the equator and is as long as the night - will take place this Saturday, 20 March, says Vienna’s Central Agency for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG).

WWII bombs call AC/DC's Wels concert into question
A concert by Australian rock legends AC/DC at an Austrian airport could be cancelled because of unexploded WWII bombs.

Alma cheese gets clean bill of health
Cheese suspected of being contaminated with deadly listeria bacteria has been given a clean bill of health, it was announced today (Thurs).

BA net profit down 10 per cent
Bosses at Bank Austria (BA) reported yesterday (Weds) that the bank had suffered a decline of 10 per cent in net profit year on year to 1.152 billion Euros in 2009.

People who defrauded Erste's BCR face trial
Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors have sent to trial 175 defendants accused of having defrauded Austrian Erste Group's subsidiary Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) of three million Euros by obtaining credit using fake documents.

Strache calls for drug addicts' centres in suburbs
New ideas on the Viennese drug scene problem by Freedom Party (FPÖ) boss Heinz-Christian Strache is set to cause controversy.

Direktanlage.at looks back on year of growth
Austrian discount broker Direktanlage.at said it managed to grow on all areas "despite the crisis".

Crash diets can lead to crashed cars, says doc
Crash diets could lead to car crashes, car club ÖAMTC doctor Heimo Vedernjak warned today (Weds).

Lauda to promote Romania 'to make destination profitable'
FlyNiki CEO Niki Lauda revealed plans to promote Romania in Austria.