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A 27-year-old woman who died in late October is Huntington County’s first confirmed death from the H1N1 virus.
Despite the news, state health officials said Thursday that hospitalization and visits to emergency rooms and doctors’ offices for H1N1-like illnesses are declining.
“We’re cautiously optimistic. We hope activity will continue to decline,” state epidemiologist Pam Pontones said. “The signs are encouraging.
“We’re heading in a good direction and that’s good news.”
The Huntington County woman died from severe acute pneumonia, a complication from H1N1. Officials had to wait several weeks for postmortem test results to come back.
Huntington County Coroner Leon Hurlburt would not release other details on the woman’s death.
But he said adults who have pre-existing conditions likes bronchitis or asthma are at a higher risk of contracting a more severe – and deadly – form of the virus.
Six Hoosiers died from the H1N1 virus last week, bringing the state total since June to 28. Two Hoosiers have died of seasonal flu.
In Allen County, H1N1 has claimed two lives, Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health spokesman John Silcox said.
The majority of the deaths in Indiana were children and young adults. Pontones said many of those who have died had an underlying medical condition.
She said she is not surprised to see more deaths as other indicators wane.
“In past pandemics, a spike or wave of activity will occur followed by a peak in hospitalizations followed by a peak of deaths being reported,” Pontones said. “There is a time lag due to the disease itself as well as reporting.”
H1N1 deaths, including the one in Huntington County, are not a cause for alarm, Hurlburt said.
Any flu can be serious, but most H1N1 cases are relatively mild and do not require hospitalization, he said.
Joan Duwve, medical director for Public Health and Preparedness at the Indiana State Department of Health, encouraged Hoosiers to get vaccinated.
“We continue to hear rumors that this is an experimental vaccine and hasn’t been adequately tested,” she said.
“This vaccine is not experimental. It is manufactured identically to the process of the seasonal flu.”
She said that the strain of flu changed – something that occurs every year – but not the process.
And Pontones said that vaccinations could help ward off a third wave of H1N1 activity during the winter – the traditional flu season.
On Thursday, Allen County health officials reminded parents that young children who received a flu vaccination before Oct. 23 are now eligible to get a second dose.
Children younger than 10 must receive the vaccine twice, four weeks apart, to be fully protected against the flu.
Silcox said lines at the Carew Medical Park clinic have been shorter in recent weeks and health officials wanted to make sure parents remembered to get a second dose for their young children.
Delivery of the vaccine has been plagued by manufacturing delays, which have led to shortages across the country.
Currently, only people in high-risk groups – including pregnant women, medical providers, children and adults younger than 25, people who care for infants, and adults with chronic health conditions – can receive the vaccine.
But Silcox said health officials hope supplies will be high enough in the coming weeks to allow people in the at-large population to get vaccinated.
