Baby born in Thailand infected with H1N1

Thai health officials said on Tuesday that a baby had been born in Thailand with H1N1 flu having contracted the virus while still in the womb, reported Reuters.

The baby was born prematurely on Saturday, when doctors decided to deliver it by caesarean section seven months into the pregrancy of a 24-year-old mother who was found to be infected with the flu virus.

"The baby is stable. We are now figuring out how it got infected. This is the only case of infection from mother to unborn baby that we have had," said Dr Suriya Coohahrat, a senior health official in Ratchaburi province, where the woman was first admitted to hospital.

The mother is still very ill in hospital.

Another doctor was quoted in local media as saying three cases of mother-to-child transmission of H1N1 had been reported in the United States.

Thailand had reported 44 deaths from H1N1 and more than 6,700 infections as of July 22, the highest number in Southeast Asia.

The Nation newspaper reported that the Public Health ministry would announce the death toll had risen to 66 at its weekly update on Wednesday.

The World Health Organisation declared an H1N1 influenza pandemic on June 11. The new virus has killed more than 800 people worldwide since it emerged in April.