The Associated Press

CHICAGO | Three more deaths in Illinois have been attributed to the swine flu virus, bringing the state’s total to eight.

Chicago Department of Public Health spokesman Tim Hadac says two Chicagoans died last week.

A 26-year-old woman with no other known health problems died June 9 after being in a hospital in Chicago for a week.

A 52-year-old man with other health problems was admitted to a hospital on May 30. He died on June 11.

Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold says the third recent victim lived in suburban Cook County.

Illinois has had nearly 2,000 confirmed swine flu cases in 22 counties.

UPI

SALT LAKE CITY, June 15 (UPI) — Two new deaths in Salt Lake County have bought to four the number of fatal cases linked to the H1N1 virus in Utah, authorities said.
The most recent deaths, one Friday and the other Saturday, involved two adults between the ages of 25 and 50, Pam Davenport, a spokesman for the county health department told The Salt Lake Tribune in a story published Monday.

The victims’ names and gender were not publicly released, though family members of Francine Rushton, 47, identified her as the person who died Saturday, the Tribune reported.

Rushton fell ill about two weeks ago but initially was told it was not H1N1, despite Rushton’s mother being diagnosed with H1N1 that same week, said Craig Whitehead, Rushton’s brother.

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BY RIDGELY OCHS AND CHAU LAM, Newsday

Two Brookhaven residents have become the first people on Long Island whose deaths have been tied to the swine flu.

Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Humayun Chaudhry announced Monday that the two residents died last week. Both had underlying medical problems, he said.

Neither knew each other, had any connection to a school or to anyone in Mexico, he said.

Chaudhry said he wasn’t surprised by the deaths.

“This tells me that the virus, like seasonal influenza, can be dangerous and deadly,” he said. But unlike typical seasonal flu, this new virus, H1N1, doesn’t appear to be on the wane: “People need to be vigilant and don’t assume because the weather is getting nice, the virus is going away,” he said.

Citing privacy concerns, Chaudhry would not release the exact ages of the two people or the villages where they lived.

One, he said, was a man between 35 and 45 with a serious, chronic medical condition who was hospitalized two weeks ago with “multiple medical problems, including pneumonia.” He died June 10.

The second was a woman, retired, with “multiple medical conditions,” between 55 and 65. On June 6, she developed a fever, dry cough and sore throat. She went to her doctor, who sent a nasal swab for testing. Her doctor prescribed medication for a respiratory infection and she reported feeling better the next morning, Chaudhry said. Nevertheless, she died the same day, June 9.

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By CARRIE ANTLFINGER, Associated Press

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Health officials in a half dozen states reported deaths from swine flu on Thursday, and said all six patients had been diagnosed with other health problems

An adult living in Milwaukee became Wisconsin’s first resident to die with the H1N1 virus. City Health Commissioner Bevan Baker would not release any details except to say that the person had a common underlying health condition that he would not specify.

Pennsylvania also reported its first death from the illness. The 55-year-old Berks County woman who died with the flu had significant underlying health issues, a health department spokeswoman said.

In Illinois, a 74-year-old man from Gurnee died Tuesday, according to the Lake County Health Department. Officials said he had significant medical conditions that increased his vulnerability.

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Swine flu has claimed its 10th victim in the U.S. On Wednesday Christina Huitron told doctors to take her 21-year-old son off life support. Marcos Sanchez of Utah thus became the nation’s 10th fatality associated with swine flu.

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