Manama: Qatar's Supreme Council of Health (SEC) has allayed fears of a new outbreak of H1N1 in the country, following the death of a Qatari woman last week.
Four people have died of H1N1 in Qatar since the beginning of the year; the fourth was a pregnant Qatari woman.
However, the SCH was quick to point out that such incidents are sporadic and do not indicate a return of the pandemic.
The Council, nevertheless, is strongly urging the public, especially high risk groups like pregnant women, to get vaccinated against seasonal influenza as a precautionary measure, Qatari daily The Peninsula reported on Monday.
The first death from H1N1 this year occurred in January and was followed by two more deaths in August, one in September and one in October.
Two of the last four victims were Qatari women and the other two were Indian nationals. However, the SCH did not announce any of the deaths.
"We did not feel it necessary to announce each death because they were isolated incidents. There is no threat of a pandemic in Qatar at this moment. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also ruled out the possibility of a new outbreak of the disease," said Dr Mohammad Al Thani, director of the Public Health Department at SCH.
However, he added that the latest incident involving the pregnant woman had come as a reminder of the need for vaccinating all vulnerable groups against seasonal flu.
"SCH will launch an investigation into this incident to identify the causes and circumstances that led to the death of the woman. The twins she was bearing have been saved and are in healthy condition now. A medical team from the SCH will be visiting the family of the deceased to check if any other members in the family are infected," he was quoted by the daily as saying.
Dr Abdul Lateef Al Khal, head of the communicable diseases section at HMC, said the woman, who was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit of the HMC with pneumonia, was treated normally.
"She was tested negative of the influenza virus even though she was infected. This happens in some patients," said Al Khal. Dr Mohammad Al Hajari, head of the health protection and communicable disease control department at SCH, highlighted the need for the seasonal flu vaccination.
He pointed out that hundreds of people around the world die every year from seasonal influenza.
Qatar recently received 40,000 doses of a new version of the seasonal influenza vaccine, which is currently being administered. Another consignment of 160,000 doses is expected by the end of this month.
"This is a three-in-one vaccine that contains a H1NI strain," said Mohammad Al Thani.
