2 more H1N1 flu deaths reported in Southern Nevada

By Mary Manning

Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 | 2:35 p.m.

A 33-year-old woman with underlying medical conditions and a 66-year-old man with no underlying medical complaints have become the latest Southern Nevada deaths from the novel H1N1 flu strain, health officials said.

The Southern Nevada Health District is reporting a total of 26 deaths since the H1N1 flu, also known as swine flu, was reported in April. The two additional deaths were reported to the health district this week.

Last week the health district reported four new deaths, a 6-year-old North Las Vegas boy and a 17-year-old boy, both complicated with medical problems. Two 54-year-olds, a man and a woman, also died from the novel H1N1 flu strain. The woman suffered from an underlying medical condition.

While the 6-year-old boy was the first confirmed death of a Southern Nevada child, children suffering from H1N1 make up the highest numbers of patients reporting flu, federal health officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated flu statistics last week and a total of 22 million North Americans are estimated to have had the H1N1 strain. A total of 98,000 people in the U.S. have been hospitalized and so far 4,000 deaths have been attributed to the flu.