Saskatchewan Woman with H1N1 Dies

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Source: http://www.newstalk980.com/story/20090628/18669

Saskatchewan Woman with H1N1 Dies
Said to Have Serious Underlying Medical Issues

Reported By Geoff Smith
Posted June 28, 2009 - 10:52am

The provincial government confirms that Saskatchewan has recorded its first death associated with the H1N1 flu virus.

According to the Health ministry's website, the patient who died was a woman in her forties with serious underlying heatlh conditions.

On Friday the ministry confirmed there were two people hospitalized as a result of the virus sometimes called swine flu, one on a ventilator. .

The chief medical health officer will be speaking to reporters Sunday afternoon.

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Re: Saskatchewan Woman with H1N1 Dies

Source: http://www.newstalk980.com/story/20090628/18680

Authorities Say First H1N1-Related Death Not Unexpected
Woman in 40s with Underlying Conditions Dies

Reported By Geoff Smith
Posted June 28, 2009 - 3:20pm

It was expected by health authorites, and now, Saskatchewan has its first death associated with the H1N1 flu pandemic.

All we know is that the patient who died was a woman in her 40s, who had serious underlying health issues. The ministry of health won't say where she was from to protect her privacy. She was one of two people identified last week as being hospitalized with a combination of H1N1 and underlying medical conditions.

Chief medical health officer Dr. Moira McKinnon says it's hard to pin down how many such cases there might be now.

"In Saskatchewan we have ten to thirty cases in ICU [intensive care] at any time with severe respiratory illness," she said. "As a rule, all those will be tested."

McKinnon says they're paying particular attention to northern and First Nation communities. But unlike in Manitoba, those communities are not being hit particularly hard by the virus. She also says the number of confirmed tests coming from Regina is levelling off.

McKinnon says seasonal flu contributes to fifty to one hundred deaths per year in the province, usually among people with chronic conditions. So she says that it's no surprise that H1N1 would do the same. But authorities are learning.

"What the information will tell us is the groups that we need to be more careful with, perhaps more proactive in treatment," she said. "It also tells us a little bit about the clinical course of the disease."