The death toll from swine flu continued to mount throughout Central and South America on Monday, with Panama reporting its first fatality from the A(H1N1) virus — a nine-month old baby.
Panama's Health Ministry said in a statement that the infant died Sunday night at a children's hospital in the capital of "respiratory complications."
So far, authorities in Panama have confirmed 541 cases of swine flu in the country, with the majority of those in the area around Panama City.
Meanwhile, in El Salvador, authorities reported the country's sixth A(H1N1)-related fatality.
The Ministry of Education in the country, where 467 cases of infection have been recorded, has ordered class be suspended for 12 days in four districts in the east of the country, where the virus has hit hardest.
In Bolivia, the death toll from swine flu rose by two to five fatalities, authorities said. So far, around 700 people in the country have been infected with the virus, according to the Bolivian Health Ministry.
Paraguay's Health Ministry on Monday raised its death toll to 10 and said it had confirmed 175 cases of infection with the disease.
In Mexico, where the pandemic was first detected, the health ministry reported three new fatalities, taking the death toll to 128 and the number of infections to 14,229.
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