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Second Winona County H1N1 flu death reported
StoryDiscussionBy Dustin Kass dustin.kass@lee.net | Posted: Thursday, December 3, 2009 12:00 am
A second Winona County resident has died of swine flu, state health officials reported Wednesday.
The resident was in his or her 40s, had underlying health conditions and was not hospitalized before dying Oct. 27, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Health. The name and gender of the person were not released.
The local death was one of seven new Minnesota deaths attributed to H1N1 virus announced Wednesday. The confirmed deaths raises the tally to 39 people who have died from the virus since it was first identified in Minnesota in April, according to a MDH press release.
That total includes another Winona County resident, as well as a Fillmore County resident.
Forty Wisconsin residents have died of swine flu since spring, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
The announcement of additional Minnesota deaths comes even as swine flu cases and hospitalizations continue to decline statewide. Most of the current flu activity is now occurring mainly in the northwestern part of the state, according to a MDH statement. There were no school outbreaks reported last week, a decrease from 10 outbreaks reported two weeks ago and a peak of 288 school outbreaks six weeks ago, according to MDH data.
The number of swine flu-related hospitalizations and school outbreaks are more timely indicators of the outbreak, state officials said, since it takes time to confirm H1N1 deaths. The swine flu deaths announced Wednesday, for example, occurred between Oct. 24 and Nov. 19, data shows.
Despite the decrease in flu cases, health officials continue to emphasize that residents should receive vaccines for both swine flu and seasonal influenza. They say a third wave of swine flu could strike Minnesota in early 2010.
StoryDiscussionBy Dustin Kass dustin.kass@lee.net | Posted: Thursday, December 3, 2009 12:00 am
A second Winona County resident has died of swine flu, state health officials reported Wednesday.
The resident was in his or her 40s, had underlying health conditions and was not hospitalized before dying Oct. 27, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Health. The name and gender of the person were not released.
The local death was one of seven new Minnesota deaths attributed to H1N1 virus announced Wednesday. The confirmed deaths raises the tally to 39 people who have died from the virus since it was first identified in Minnesota in April, according to a MDH press release.
That total includes another Winona County resident, as well as a Fillmore County resident.
Forty Wisconsin residents have died of swine flu since spring, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
The announcement of additional Minnesota deaths comes even as swine flu cases and hospitalizations continue to decline statewide. Most of the current flu activity is now occurring mainly in the northwestern part of the state, according to a MDH statement. There were no school outbreaks reported last week, a decrease from 10 outbreaks reported two weeks ago and a peak of 288 school outbreaks six weeks ago, according to MDH data.
The number of swine flu-related hospitalizations and school outbreaks are more timely indicators of the outbreak, state officials said, since it takes time to confirm H1N1 deaths. The swine flu deaths announced Wednesday, for example, occurred between Oct. 24 and Nov. 19, data shows.
Despite the decrease in flu cases, health officials continue to emphasize that residents should receive vaccines for both swine flu and seasonal influenza. They say a third wave of swine flu could strike Minnesota in early 2010.
