MADRID - SPAIN and Uruguay reported their first deaths from swine flu, as Canada expressed fears that young people were particularly vulnerable to the virus.

FIGURES released by the World Health Organisation on Monday meanwhile had reported the death toll from the pandemic at 311 and total infections at 70,893 - up more than 10,000 on the figures release the previous Friday. US researchers said in a new study that the virus responsible for the Spanish flu in 1918 created a viral dynasty that persists today. ... more

In Spain, a 20-year-Moroccan woman died at a Madrid hospital on Tuesday, becoming the country's first fatality from the A(H1N1) infection. The woman, who suffered from asthma, died at dawn of a respiratory illness provoked by the infection, said a health ministry statement.

Seven-months pregnant when she arrived at the hospital, she had been receiving treatment for several days. When her condition deteriorated on Monday, doctors carried out a Caesarean delivery of the baby, who was fragile but in good health and unaffected by the virus, said the ministry statement.

Three other patients were be in a serious condition in Spanish hospitals, said health officials. Her death was the fourth from swine flu in Europe.

Late Monday, Britain reported its third swine flu death - a schoolgirl who officials said had had underlying health problems.

In the Uruguayan capital Montevideo health ministry officials reported the country's first victim, a 60-year-old woman. 'Late today a woman died in Montevideo with multiple organ failure and tests confirmed the presence of the A(H1N1) virus,' the ministry said in a statement.

Uruguay has 195 confirmed cases of swine flu, including 12 requiring hospitalisation, according to the ministry.

Health authorities in Canada meanwhile expressed alarm that young people were being hit hardest by the infection.

Preliminary data showed that the virus had mostly infected people under the age of 20 in Canada, and relatively few people over 65. During seasonal influenza outbreaks, it is usually the elderly who account for 25 per cent of infections, and most deaths.

'So this is quite different,' Chief Public Health Officer David Butler-Jones said. 'Although we do expect some cases to be severe in any influenza outbreak, especially when there is underlying factors such as chronic lung disease or diabetes, there are some cases (now) where the individual was previously healthy before catching this virus and rapidly has progressed to severe illness and required a ventilator,' he said. -- AFP