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Source: http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2009/nov/06/okanogan-adult-dies-of-h1n1-flu/
Okanogan adult dies of H1N1 flu
By Dee Riggs
World staff writer
Friday, November 6, 2009
OKANOGAN ? An Okanogan County adult is the first confirmed H1N1 flu death in North Central Washington.
The person is not a senior citizen but no other details were being released because of privacy concerns for the family, said Lauri Jones, community health director for Okanogan County Public Health. On Thursday, agency officials put out a news release stating the first H1N1 flu death of an Okanogan County resident was reported to them this week.
Jones declined to say when the person died but she said there was a prolonged illness involved. She said she was not aware of any underlying illness in the person who died in a hospital in the county. She declined to name the hospital.
Donn Moyer, media relations manager for the state Department of Health, said he has heard of no H1N1 deaths from Chelan, Douglas or Grant counties.
He also had not yet heard about the Okanogan County death, but said it was not unusual for there to be a lag in reporting from county health districts.
Of the deaths in the state reported to him as of noon on Wednesday, 19 have been from influenza. One of those was influenza B but ?we assume that virtually all the rest are H1N1,? he said. That is because the H1N1 virus is the main flu virus circulating among the public right now. The H1N1 virus is an influenza A strain.
Eight of the 19 cases have been in Eastern Washington, he said.
Also since Sept. 19, when the state typically starts reporting flu deaths, 736 people have been hospitalized with flu, Moyer said. ?And you can make the assumption that they are swine flu because 95 percent of all samples that come back positive for influenza have been the H1N1 strain,? he said.
Nationwide, more than 1,000 deaths have been attributed to laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza, according to Jeff Dimond, a media spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dee Riggs: 664-7147
deeriggs@wenatcheeworld.com
Okanogan adult dies of H1N1 flu
By Dee Riggs
World staff writer
Friday, November 6, 2009
OKANOGAN ? An Okanogan County adult is the first confirmed H1N1 flu death in North Central Washington.
The person is not a senior citizen but no other details were being released because of privacy concerns for the family, said Lauri Jones, community health director for Okanogan County Public Health. On Thursday, agency officials put out a news release stating the first H1N1 flu death of an Okanogan County resident was reported to them this week.
Jones declined to say when the person died but she said there was a prolonged illness involved. She said she was not aware of any underlying illness in the person who died in a hospital in the county. She declined to name the hospital.
Donn Moyer, media relations manager for the state Department of Health, said he has heard of no H1N1 deaths from Chelan, Douglas or Grant counties.
He also had not yet heard about the Okanogan County death, but said it was not unusual for there to be a lag in reporting from county health districts.
Of the deaths in the state reported to him as of noon on Wednesday, 19 have been from influenza. One of those was influenza B but ?we assume that virtually all the rest are H1N1,? he said. That is because the H1N1 virus is the main flu virus circulating among the public right now. The H1N1 virus is an influenza A strain.
Eight of the 19 cases have been in Eastern Washington, he said.
Also since Sept. 19, when the state typically starts reporting flu deaths, 736 people have been hospitalized with flu, Moyer said. ?And you can make the assumption that they are swine flu because 95 percent of all samples that come back positive for influenza have been the H1N1 strain,? he said.
Nationwide, more than 1,000 deaths have been attributed to laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza, according to Jeff Dimond, a media spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dee Riggs: 664-7147
deeriggs@wenatcheeworld.com
