Maryland reports first death linked to swine flu
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June 23, 2009 by fluoutbreak
By Stephanie Desmon, The Baltimore Sun
Elderly woman suffered serious underlying condition, officials say
An elderly woman from the Baltimore area is the first person in Maryland to die from the swine flu, health officials said Tuesday.
Officials did not name the woman, who died on Monday, or give her age or hometown. They did say she suffered from a serious underlying medical condition in addition to the H1N1 influenza virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 87 deaths nationwide of people who have contracted this strain of the flu, which started making people sick in Mexico this spring. More than 21,000 people across the United States have become ill with the flu, but most have had relatively mild cases.
“While hundreds of Marylanders have recovered from this relatively mild form of novel flu, this death illustrates how serious influenza can be, especially for persons with serious underlying health conditions,” said John M. Colmers, the state’s health secretary, in a statement.
To date, 370 cases of the swine flu have been confirmed in Maryland. That figure is likely a fraction of the total swine flu cases statewide. Many people who become ill with flu-like symptoms are not tested and recover within a week’s time, much like seasonal flu.
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