13.7% of China's A/H1N1 flu deaths were pregnant women: ministry

BEIJING, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- About 13.7 percent of the deaths from the A/H1N1 influenza in the Chinese mainland were pregnant women, the Ministry of Health announced Wednesday, correcting an earlier figure of eight percent given by a medical expert.

Zhong Nanshan, a medical expert in south China's Guangdong Province, was quoted as saying Wednesday that eight percent of the deaths in mainland were pregnant women. Zhong first gave an overwhelming figure of 80 percent, but later corrected himself.

A notice on the ministry's website said that among the dead patients, 47 percent suffered from chronic diseases and 18 percent were obese.

Of the 326 death reported so far, the male gender accounted for 58 percent, the notice said.

Deaths from the flu had been rising faster as a large part of China experienced wintry weather.

The mainland reported 125 deaths in the week from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6, nearly 65 percent of the 194 deaths in whole November.

Almost 10,000 new cases had been confirmed in the week, making the total to more than 100,000, according to the ministry. As of Wednesday, 31.61 million people had been vaccinated.