The Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey state health officials are reporting the state’s fifth swine flu-related death.

The state lab on Tuesday confirmed that a 79-year-old Hudson County woman who died June 19 at Bayonne Medical Center had the H1N1 virus.

Officials say she became ill on June 15 and was hospitalized later that day with a cough and fever. She had underlying medical conditions.

The four others in New Jersey who have died from the virus include a 36-year-old Union County man, a 15-year-old Somerset County boy, a 10-year-old Sussex County boy and a 49-year-old northern New Jersey man.

New Jersey currently has 568 confirmed cases of swine flu in 19 counties and 275 probable cases.

ZEENEWS

Santiago, June 21: An 18-year-old male has become the fifth person to die in Chile from the swine flu virus, local health authorities said.

The teenager was identified as Nelson Maldonado, from the southern city of Puerto Montt, 915 kilometres south of the capital Santiago.

Eugenia Schnake, a local health official, said Maldonado had a number of underlying health conditions related to morbid obesity, including respiratory problems.

Chile, in the midst of the southern hemisphere’s winter flu season, has been hard it by the A(H1N1) pandemic, reporting 4,315 cases of the virus.

On Wednesday, the country declared a state of emergency, giving the government more powers to deal with the outbreak.

Elsewhere in South America the virus continued its march.

Read more….

By Chris Boardman, ABC 6

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A teenage girl from Kent County is the first swine flu death in Rhode Island.

The state Department of Health announced Wednesday that the girl, who was not identified, had underlying medical conditions that increased her risk for serious illness from the virus.

Director of Health David Gifford said most cases in Rhode Island are mild, but people with other medical conditions such as heart or lung disease, diabetes or pregnancy are at increased risk for more serious complications.

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BY AARON DERFEL, GAZETTE HEALTH REPORTER

MONTREAL – Quebec has reported its fourth death from swine flu in a teenager who had suffered from a number of chronic medical problems, public-health authorities said Monday.

The victim was from the Laurentians, but officials would not reveal the age or gender of the person.

“The individual died on Friday, but we only learned today that the person had suffered from H1N1,” said Alain Poirier, Quebec’s director of public health. “The doctors thought that the cause of death wasn’t the flu, but other chronic diseases.”

Authorities reported 94 new cases in the province Monday, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 967. Of that number, 134 individuals have been hospitalized with H1N1, including 10 Monday.

Although the H1N1 strain is so far proving to be no more lethal than seasonal influenza, it’s distinctive in two respects: many cases are being reported on a daily basis even as summer approaches, and many young people are getting infected.

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WTIC

Waterbury Hospital officials have confirmed that a female in her early forties who entered the hospital with respiratory problems and later tested positive for the H1N1 virus, also known as Swine Flu, has died. Swine Flu is believed to have played a contributing role in her death, the hospital said. The woman died early Monday morning, officials said.

“When this patient was originally admitted to our hospital, she presented with influenza-like illness with respiratory symptoms,” said Steve Aronin, MD, head of Infectious Diseases at Waterbury Hospital. “We believe that the virus had likely been incubating within her system because she didn’t appear to have the flu when she first came to the hospital.” He said the woman did have a few other health conditions which may have contributed to lowering her immune system’s ability to fend off the H1N1 virus.

It is Connecticut’s third death linked to swine flu. All of the deaths have had a link to Waterbury.

Last week, a six-year-old boy from Waterbury died after being diagnosed with the virus. The boy had not attended school this year, had serious underlying medical conditions, and had been hospitalized, state officials said.

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The UK reported its first death to H1N1 swine flu on Sunday after a 38-year old mother from Glasgow died in a Scottish hospital days after she gave birth to her baby prematurely. The patient, named locally as Jacqui Fleming, had underlying health problems and is thought to have died while receiving treatment at the at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley. She had been in intensive care there since last month, reported The Herald.

Fleming was one of 10 patients being treated for swine flu in greater Glasgow, reported the BBC.

Her death is the first reported outside of the Americas, where according to the World Health Organization’s latest update, 145 people have died.

Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon expressed her condolences to Fleming’s family:

“This is a tragedy for those concerned and they have my heartfelt sympathy,” she told the press. She went on to stress although this death was tragic, people should note that the vast majority of H1N1 infections have been relatively mild.

35 new cases of swine flu were reported in Scotland on Sunday, bringing to 500 the number people infected in Scotland, out of 1,261 confirmed cases in the UK as a whole, reported the BBC earlier today.

Read more….

The Associated Press

NEW YORK – New York City has recorded its ninth death from swine flu.

The city health department said on its Web site Monday that the victim was over age 50 and had an underlying health condition that made the flu more dangerous.

Health spokeswoman Erin Brady declined to say when the victim died or release any details about the death, citing patient privacy policies.

Many thousands of New Yorkers are believed to have had swine flu. City health officials say most suffered only mild symptoms.

About 428 people have been hospitalized and there have been 694 confirmed swine flu cases reported citywide. Elderly people are usually among those most at risk in a flu outbreak, but researchers say this particular strain has hit relatively few people over age 65.

The Associated Press,

OAKLAND, Calif.—Health officials have confirmed California’s fifth swine flu death.Alameda County health officials said Tuesday that a middle-aged man with H1N1 virus in that county has died. Officials, citing agency policy, did not release any information about the man or when he became ill. They said in a statement that he had been hospitalized with chronic health conditions.

An Orange County man’s death from swine flu was reported by health officials Monday. A San Bernardino County man, a Los Angeles County woman and a 9-year-old child from Contra Costa County all died of the virus in May.

California had recorded 796 confirmed cases of the swine flu as of June 4, the latest figures available from the state Department of Health.

WQOW18

Wisconsin is reporting its first death from swine flu.

Milwaukee’s City Health Commissioner says the person who died had underlying health problems, but wouldn’t elaborate.  According to the Centers of Disease Control, the nation now has 18 confirmed deaths associated with the swine flu.

In the Chippewa Valley, Chippewa County has confirmed four cases of the virus, and two that are probable.  The county’s health department says one adult and three students have the virus, all who are recovering.

The Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Department of Health says the first person in the state to die from swine flu had “significant underlying health issues.”

The state’s first person to die from swine flu is a 55-year-old woman in Berks County.

The state has 269 confirmed cases and 101 probable cases of illness due to this virus. There are more than 11,000 cases nationwide and 18 related deaths.