Young South Korean Woman Dies From Unknown Virus
Posted on May 10, 2011
The Yonhap News Agency is reporting that a 36-year-old South Korean woman died Monday in a Seoul hospital from pneumonia caused by an unknown virus. She was admitted last month for tuberculosis.
The article says the CDC is trying to identify the virus, which caused development of "excess fibrous connective tissue in the lungs" according to a CDC official. This fibrosis led to the woman's death.
The woman was pregnant when she arrived at the hospital and premature labor was induced as part of her treatment. The Yonhap report does not say whether or not her child lived. The article says the CDC says six other women in the hospital are also being treated for similar pneumonia cases and all of them are pregnant or recently gave birth.
The CDC official told Yonhap that lab results could come back as early as Thursday.