Chile

A Chilean man has died from H1N1 flu, Chile's Public Health Institute said on Tuesday June 2, the first death in the South American country from the new virus that has killed more than 100 people worldwide. Chile had so far confirmed 312 other cases of H1N1 by late on Monday, two of whom continue to be in serious condition. The Chilean minister of health convened a news conference to formally announce the specifics regarding the death.

Chilean Health Minister Alvaro Erazo said, the dead confirmed, by the Institute of Public Health, in regards to a patient of 37 years of age, who died on Monday at 4:15 in the morning, in the regional hospital of Puerto Montt, and that in accordance with the clinical evaluation, and the antecedents of the case that were compiled over the last two days, and confirmed today at 1 pm by the Institute of Public Health, that this was the first death from the influenza here in Chile.

The victim, Fernando Vera Maldonado, died in the southern city of Puerto Montt, located roughly 1,000 kms south of Santiago.

The spread of H1N1 flu in Australia, Britain, Chile, Japan and Spain has nudged the world closer to a pandemic, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. The new flu -- a mixture of swine, bird and human viruses -- remains most prevalent in North America but has infected nearly 19,000 people in 64 countries, according to the WHO's latest toll, which tends to lag behind national figures but is considered more reliable.

Arazo took time at the news conference to underscore the importance of addressing the early signs of the flu. "It's worth repeating that with these exceptional cases, the most important is that when the symptoms of fever, coughing, as this patient suffered from, and above all high fever, people must report themselves to health centers," he said. Before the Chilean death was confirmed, the WHO had put the global death toll from H1N1 at 117. Most of those killed have been in Mexico. Reuters