A child is the second Utahn to die after testing positive for H1N1 swine flu.
The Salt Lake Valley Health Department reported the death Thursday. The child, between the ages of 5 and 18, died this week and had a "pretty severe underlying chronic condition" and respiratory problems, according to Dagmar Vitek, the department's medical director.
Those illnesses would have put him or her at a higher risk of developing serious complications from the flu. The child was homeschooled, according to the health department. He or she was hospitalized at Primary Children's Medical Center and died less than 24 hours later.
Most of the 489 cases in Utah continue to be mild, much like seasonal flu, according to the state Health Department. Still, Salt Lake County is warning that while the H1N1 flu seems to have plateaued in much of the rest of the country, it is still on the rise here.
"I don't think we have peaked yet," Vitek said. "The [influenza] type A tests that come back positive are going up, up, up. It's out there in the community and people really have to be aware of that."
Nationally, around 36,000 people die from seasonal flu-related causes. So far, there have been 17 U.S. deaths related to the H1N1 flu -- not counting Utah's latest death -- with more than 11,000 confirmed cases, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 350 Utahns die of seasonal flu-related causes each year, with an average
of two pediatric deaths. This year, one child has died of the seasonal flu, according to the state health department.
The new H1N1 flu, for which there is no vaccine, continues to spread most rapidly among Utah's young: Most of Salt Lake County's 330 confirmed cases are between the ages of 5 and 24, with an average age of 16.
The state health department is reporting that pediatric demand for the antiviral Tamiflu, which is used to treat the symptoms of seasonal and swine flu, "increased substantially" this week. "At this time, suppliers do not expect to face any shortages," the health department said.
Vitek hopes the spread will halt as school ends this week and next.
Still, "it's not only schools. [It includes children] in sports teams and dance clubs. They share their bottles and they don't wash their hands. They're little germ factories," she said.
Salt Lake County has the most cases in the state and the most hospitalizations, with 33 of Utah's 35 hospitalizations.
Vitek said a majority of the hospitalized cases involve underlying conditions that increase the risk of complications, including heart disease and diabetes. In fact, 72 percent have such a condition, are obese or are under age 2.
The most common risk factors among Utah's severe cases are asthma and pregnancy.
The first Utah death tied to the new flu strain occurred May 20, when 21-year-old Marcos Antonio Sanchez died in the University of Utah Hospital's intensive care unit. Health officials said he suffered from "several" underlying health conditions; he was overweight and had sleep apnea. He tested positive for the new flu before his death.
hmay@sltrib.com
Utah's H1N1 flu stats
Of Utah's 489 confirmed cases of novel H1N1 flu:
35 have been hospitalized
19 cases are among health care workers
17 patients are pregnant, with four of those hospitalized
2 have died
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