West Virginia confirms 6th death, woman 58 yrs old

[Roehl_JC]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A 58-year-old Kanawha County woman died Saturday from complications of swine flu, the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department confirmed in a news release Sunday.

The death is the first in Kanawha County and the sixth associated with the H1N1 virus reported in West Virginia.

In a statement, Health Officer Rahul Gupta said, "we mourn the loss of our county resident and while tragic it reinforces why the H1N1 vaccination efforts are so important."

The woman's name was not immediately released.

http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/200911010204

[Pathfinder]

Re: West Virginia confirms 6th death, woman 58 yrs old

State News

Sunday November 1, 2009

Kanawha County hospital has first swine flu death

by From staff reports

County health officials say they believe a Kanawha County woman died after contracting swine flu.

The 58-year-old, whose name has not been released, had underlying health problems, said Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department.

The woman died Saturday night at a Kanawha County hospital from complications from the Influenza A virus. Gupta said that more than 99 percent of those who test positive for Influenza A also test positive for the H1N1 virus, but officials still are waiting for test results showing conclusively that the woman had swine flu.

"It's an assumption (she had H1N1)," Gupta said. "But at this point I'd say it was a pretty safe assumption."

Gupta said the woman was taken to the hospital Monday by ambulance. Later in the week she tested positive for a strain of Influenza A, he said.

Health officials will not say which hospital the woman was in, only that it was a Kanawha County facility.

http://www.dailymail.com/News/statenews/200911010281