A fifth person in Ottawa has died after contracting swine flu.
The city's medical officer of health said the male patient died Thursday morning after he was sent to hospital to be treated for the disease sometime last week.
The man, who was under age 65, had a pre-existing medical condition. Dr. Isra Levy would not identify that condition.
The city has reported 364 cases of swine flu since the spring; a number that has not changed drastically over the last few weeks.
So far, 70 people have been hospitalized for the H1N1 virus -- half of those people were younger than 20 years old.
Levy is encouraging all residents to consider getting the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available this fall. He says the vaccine is safe and highly recommended.
"We're very confident that when the vaccine is available it will be as safe and as effective as we can possibly know it to be," Levy told reporters on Thursday.
"Like any medical and public health intervention, we will be monitoring to make sure that there are no adverse, unintended consequences that show themselves. We'll be monitoring very closely and if anything shows itself, we will take the appropriate action."
Canada's chief public health officer announced Wednesday that those who will benefit most from immunization include:
- those under age 65 who have a chronic illness
- pregnant women
- children 6 months to 5 years of age
- people living in remote communities
- health care workers
- those who care for infants or people with health problems
Vaccinations are expected to get underway in November.
