The Peruvian Health Ministry on Wednesday confirmed the country's third death from the flu A/H1N1.

The deceased was a 39-year-old patient from the southern department of Arequipa who also suffered from hypertension, overweight and diabetes. He was hospitalized Tuesday and died hours later, the health ministry said.

Regional health director Miguel Alayza said the patient "arrived at the medical care in bad conditions and with respiratory problems before being transferred to intensive care."

Peru reported its first two flu deaths on Sunday, which were a 38-year-old woman with hypertension and a four-year-old girl with Down Syndrome.

To the moment the Peruvian health ministry has reported a total of 1,135 confirmed cases of A/H1N1 flu, of whom 811 have recovered.

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2009)