The Ministry of Health announced Tuesday two deaths, one confirmed and one suspected, from the swine flu virus. Both deaths occurred in the Riyadh province. The ministry also put hospitals on alert and fixed a body temperature limit of 38°C, above which hospitals must test patients for the AHNI virus. The ministry statement also called upon the public to cooperate and take every precaution against the pandemic. The latest announcement takes Saudi Arabia's death toll from the pandemic to six, the highest in the Middle East. The other deaths in recent days were in Dammam (2), and regions of Qassim and Asir. The man who died in hospital Tuesday after failing to respond to treatment, was a 15-year-old Saudi male suffering from Down Syndrome and heart defects. The suspected case involved a 32-year-old Sri Lankan visitor whose body was found in his hotel room in the capital on Monday. The man appeared to have been suffering from symptoms of the AH1N1 virus. The medical report on his death was being studied to identify the cause, the ministry statement said. The ministry reiterated its calls for the public to take all possible precautionary measures against the virus and report to the nearest medical center should symptoms appear. Some 595 people in the Kingdom have the swine flu, according to the ministry's count in the weekend. On Monday, Health Minster Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Rabeah assured the Cabinet that the swine flu situation in the Kingdom “is under control and there is nothing to worry about.” The Health Ministry has ordered 4 million vaccines – which are currently under clinical testing – for delivery in October, in preparation for the Haj pilgrimage in the year
