6 new H1N1 deaths reported in Southern Nevada

Published Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 | 12:56 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 | 1:23 p.m.

Sun health coverage

The Southern Nevada Health District today reported that six new deaths have been linked to the H1N1 flu strain.

That brings the number of deaths in Clark County to 19 from the novel flu strain, also known as swine flu.

Eighteen of the deaths occurred in Las Vegas area residents. Another death was an upstate New York woman who was visiting Las Vegas and died in a local hospital.

The patients who died included a 22-year-old woman with underlying medical conditions, a 28-year-old woman with underlying medical conditions, a 44-year-old man with underlying medical conditions and a 40-year-old man with no underlying medical complaints.

Two additional deaths reported earlier in October include a 64-year-old woman with underlying medical conditions and a 50-year-old man, whose medical condition is unknown.

The number of laboratory-confirmed H1N1 flu cases continued to rise. A total of 854 confirmed H1N1 flu cases have been reported in Southern Nevada since the flu strain was identified in April, the health district said.

"Even though we know there will be deaths every flu season, any influenza-related death is always sad news," said chief health officer Dr. Lawrence Sands. "Due to an increase in influenza awareness this year the health district has seen an increase in testing and reporting by physicians, which has created a backlog for our staff."

Local health surveillance shows that H1N1 influenza is the primary strain circulating locally, a fact confirmed by Dr. Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sands and Frieden emphasized that millions of people have contracted the flu virus through spring, summer and fall months and most of them recover with few problems.

The Southern Nevada Health District is also reporting continuing hospitalizations as the result of the H1N1 virus.

UNLV students have already reported flu-like symptoms. Since Sept. 24 of this year, 1,766 visits have been made to the university's student health center, with 66 reporting flu-like symptoms, roughly 3 percent of the total visits. Of the 66, 12 were tested for flu with rapid testing and eight returned positive for influenza, university officials said.

Since UNLV doesn't do subtype testing, it cannot confirm these cases were H1N1.

But Frieden, in a teleconference on Tuesday, said that the vast majority of confirmed flu cases are H1N1. The seasonal flu types have yet to appear in the United States, he said.

At UNLV, the student health center is urging students to follow the Center for Disease Control guidelines for preventing the illness, including staying isolated if symptoms appear, covering coughs and sneezes and washing hands thoroughly. The center also offers flu kits with mask, sanitizer and further prevention information.

Discussion: 8 comments so far…

By tannsummers

10/28/09 at 2:24 p.m.

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And, Obama had a chance to close the border when this first hit last April in Mexico ... his response and it's spread shows his "opps" learn-the-job-as-you-go mentality.
By fogcity

10/28/09 at 2:27 p.m.

Suggest removal

Closing the border would not have worked. What about Americans who were there at that time? What about foreigners from other countries visiting Mexico returning to their home countries? Do we in turn then close entry to the U.S. for those countries as well?
By tvegas

10/28/09 at 2:35 p.m.

Suggest removal

You wingnuts blame Obama for everything.
By Bertsos

10/28/09 at 3:53 p.m.

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"""And, Obama had a chance to close the border when this first hit last April in Mexico ... his response and it's spread shows his "opps" learn-the-job-as-you-go mentality."""

Typical idiotic nut job response.

I hope this posters doesn't get his government socialist flu shot, and he mans up if he gets the flu and rides it out like a true "patriot" would !
By neiman1

10/28/09 at 6:26 p.m.

Suggest removal

At least we have the government health system to protect us all with vaccines and treatments. Think how bad it would be if the government hadn't taken control last spring and saved us.

If we get government heath care we can have this wonderful protection with every illness.
By nevadaappleslices

10/28/09 at 7:01 p.m.

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please don't tell me that you are serious that the government would give us good health care. even on this H1N1 vaccine, they couldn't manage to do things right and have a supply for the demand. the same thing would happen with a government health option - there wouldn't be enough doctors and nurses for the demand if it was free.
By odeman

10/28/09 at 9:25 p.m.

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There is more to manufacturung flu vaccine than mixing a few chemicals together. It takes time to find the right mix, all flu strains are different and flu vaccine is not one size fits all, and when you consider hundreds of millions of doses need to be made and delivered it's a big project. slices is a typical ignorant instant gratification American. Everything is not available at the snap of your fingers as your warped mind thinks it should be so don't blame the government. Whether it be flu vaccine or that gallon of gasoline in your tank, if one bothered to actually research what it takes to get things manufactured and into our fat little hands they would not be so inclined to whine.
By namian

10/29/09 at 4:28 p.m.

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The vaccine was created by the free market and not by the government. They failed to create the number of doses that were needed, because the virus isn't growing as fast as they had anticipated. But I guess you'll find some way to blame that on Obama too.