Santiago - Chile - with a total of over 300 confirmed infections - became the first country in South America to confirm a death of the new influenza virus A(H1N1), the Chilean government said Tuesday. The dead man, 37, was a plumber from the southern city of Puerto Montt. Treatment for the virus was delayed, Chilean health authorities noted, and he suffered kidney failure and a cardio- respiratory arrest.
The first cases of new flu infections in Chile were detected 17 days ago, with the cases of three women who were returning from a holiday in the Dominican Republic.
