Palestinian doctors wear face masks at the reception of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City December 6, 2009. H1N1 swine flu has finally reached the Gaza Strip, the health ministry said on Sunday, worrying Palestinians who had credited Israel's blockade of the territory with keeping the virus at bay.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    GAZA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Two Palestinian women have died of A/H1N1 virus in Gaza Strip, the first deaths from the virus in the Israeli-blockaded enclave, a health official said Monday.

    The two were among the five cases diagnosed with the virus on Sunday, Dr. Hassan Khalaf, deputy health minister, told Xinhua, adding that "The two women died last night and the other three cases are recovering."

    Khalaf added that the women had been suffering from other chronic diseases like kidney failure and obstructive pulmonary that "reduced their immunity to resist the A/H1N1 virus."

    Khalaf refused to reveal the ages of the women, but said they "were not children."

A Palestinian hospital worker wears a face mask at Kamal Odwan hospital in the northern Gaza Strip December 6, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    The Health Ministry has increased its readiness for a possible spread of the flu among the 1.4 million people in the densely-populated Gaza Strip, according to Khalaf.

    He denied that the virus had reached Gaza when thousands of pilgrims returned from Mecca last week, adding that patients who go for treatment in Israel or in the West Bank might have carried the virus.

    In the West Bank, at least 1,200 Palestinians were registered as A/H1N1 cases and nine of them died.

    On Sunday night, the Hamas government was finally prompted to announce the infections after being insisting for several months that Gaza is totally free of A/H1N1 flu.  

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