The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has announced that for the first time a patient has died of a mutant strain of the A (H1N1) flu.

The victim, a man, died in the Groningen University Medical Centre. Earlier, the RIVM announced there were three patients in the Netherlands diagnosed with Tamiflu-resistant A (H1N1) influenza. One of these three has now died. He was already seriously ill before he contracted influenza.

Worldwide, about 50 people have been diagnosed with Tamiflu-resistant A (H1N1) influenza. The RIVM says its quite normal for viruses to mutate, which is why flu vaccines are adjusted each year. Last week, two patients in France died of a mutant strain of the A (H1N1) influenza virus.

Photo: Anti-viral drug Tamiflu (Flickr/Quiplash)