Fourth death linked to halted flu drug - report

(ANSA) - Rome, November 28 - The death of a fourth person may be linked to the Fluad flu vaccine, Florence's La Nazione daily reported Friday. On Thursday the Italian authorities suspended use of two batches of the Novartis-produced vaccine as a precautionary measure amid suspicions it may have been linked to three deaths.
    The fourth suspicious death regards an 80-year-old man who died in the Tuscan city of Prato on Thursday, after taking the vaccine on Wednesday, La Nazione reported. The man reportedly was administered a dose of the vaccine from one of the two suspended batches. The Italian Pharmaceutical Agency (AIFA) has called on anyone who might have unused doses of Fluad from lots numbered 142701 and 143301 to contact their doctor. Two of the previous suspicious deaths linked to the vaccine occurred in Sicily, while the other was in the southern Molise region, ANSA sources said. The two batches were produced at a Novartis plant in the Tuscan city of Siena for use by local public health clinics.
    AIFA stressed that the move suspending use of the vaccine is a precaution pending tests of samples from the batches.
    Health authorities in the northwestern Liguria region have suspended flu vaccinations while clinics and pharmacies check their stocks to make sure they don't have any from the suspicious batches.