German tourist died from pneumonia, not flu

Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nop-amornbodi said rumours that 65-year-old Barbel Wilhelmine was infected with the virus and became the first victim to die from it here were false.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation said production of up to 4.9 billion doses of vaccines against the flu virus was possible, so that a global pandemic could be prevented.

Worldwide, the number of H1N1 cases has reached 10,000.

As for Thailand, two confirmed victims have been reported but no fatalities yet.

Yesterday's speculation that Wilhelmine's death was caused by the deadly virus caused concern in Bangkok and other cities.

The tourist entered the country on May 12 with her husband and a child and exhibited no flu symptoms.

Her family then headed to the resort town of Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, where they stayed until she developed chest pains and breathing difficulties on Monday.

Her husband alerted hotel staff, who sent her to San Paolo Hua Hin Hospital, which decided to refer her to a hospital in Bangkok.

However, she died on the way while the ambulance was in Samut Sakhon.

Following her death, San Paolo Hua Hin Hospital was sanitised, and its staff were ordered to wear protective masks.

Even the crew of the ambulance carrying Wilhelmine to Bangkok and her husband were undergoing examination and given medication as a precaution against possible exposure to the type-A (H1N1) virus.

In the wake of the scare, Manit told a press conference the tourist only had a lung infection and that his ministry would determine what had caused that.

At this point, the test results from the Medical Science Department and Mahidol University's Siriraj Hospital confirmed only that Wilhelmine tested negative for the new virus.

Her husband and the child will not be quarantined.

CONGENITAL DISEASE

Public Health Ministry deputy permanent secretary Dr Paijit Warajit said Wilhelmine suffered from a congenital disease and was taking a drug that lowered her white blood cell count. This weakened her body's immune system, which could not prevent the infection.

Earlier, Thailand reported two confirmed cases of the new flu, both of them Thais who had recently returned from Mexico. they fully recovered after receiving anti-flu drugs.

Still, 25 other people are in quarantine in Thai hospitals under observation for suspected type-A (H1N1) flu. Four are foreigners: two from France and one each from Switzerland and the US.