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Wadena County H1N1 flu death reported Flu update Staff and wire reports
Minnesota health officials on Thursday reported six more H1N1 flu deaths and one more from an undetermined flu-like illness, but said overall flu activity in the state dipped again.
One of the deaths occurred in Wadena County, the Minnesota Department of Health reported.
The other deaths occurred in Beltrami, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and Stevens counties, while the undetermined flu-like health illness occurred in Mower County, a state health official said.
Karen Nelson, Wadena County Public Health director, said she was informed that a resident of Wadena County died. The only information she was provided from the state was that the person was not a child, Nelson said. "Our heart goes out to the family of the person who died."
She is not aware whether the person died in a hospital or at home. And she is not aware whether the person had an underlying health condition.
Joel Beiswenger, Tri-County Hospital administrator in Wadena, said there have been no H1N1 deaths at the Wadena hospital but he was aware of a Wadena County resident who recently died of H1N1 at another hospital in the state. He had no additional information.
The new deaths brought the state's total number of confirmed deaths from H1N1 flu as of Saturday to 21, plus two from unspecified flu-like illnesses since this virus first turned up in the state, the Minnesota Department of Health said in its weekly update.
The latest data also showed flu activity is continuing to wane slightly for the second straight week in Minnesota. Forty Minnesota schools, mostly in the Twin Cities metro area, reported outbreaks of flu-like illnesses last week, down from 137 the week before. Visits for flu-like illnesses to selected outpatient clinics across the state decreased. And no outbreaks were reported at the state's long-term care facilities last week.
"I don't want to say that we have peaked because we do want to have several weeks of data. ... But we have several indicators that look good," said state epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield.
As of last Saturday, 1,261 people had been hospitalized due to confirmed H1N1 cases in Minnesota since Sept. 1 - including 134 new cases - bringing the total for the pandemic to 1,521.
The state still isn't getting as much vaccine as it wants or needs, said Kris Ehresmann, who directs the department's vaccine program.
"We at the Department of Health are frustrated and we know that the public is frustrated as well," Ehresmann said.
Vaccine supplies remain limited and it's not clear yet when that will change, so the health department is still relying on health care providers that get vaccine shipments to target the people who need it the most, spokesman Buddy Ferguson said.
"We've been encouraging providers to reach out to their high-risk patients," Ferguson said. "We've been asking the public to be patient and persistent."
Officials are still restricting the vaccine to people in the highest risk groups: children 6 months through 4 years old; children from 5 to 18 years old who have health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, or cancer; pregnant women; health care and emergency medical personnel who provide direct patient care, and parents and primary care providers of infants under 6 months old.
In Wadena County, Nelson said, "We have had increased absences from schools." All schools in the county, except Menahga, have reported outbreaks of flu-like illnesses.
Nelson has been working with medical providers to vaccinate the highest-risk people, such as pregnant women and caregivers of infants.
In the past week, Nelson helped coordinate 700 vaccinations during one clinic.
Next week, health officials will start school vaccinations for those at risk for H1N1.
"We don't have enough vaccine for all schoolchildren," she said. "Little by little, we'll have vaccine for everyone."
Nelson said she also has heard of increased absences due to illness of workers in the county, not just increased absences in schools.
"We are asking the public to stay home from activities if they are ill, like don't go to a basketball game or wrestling meet," she said.
She said she's "hoping and praying no one is dying in our county" before enough vaccine becomes available to treat all who want to be vaccinated.
Crow Wing County Public Health will host two upcoming H1N1 flu clinics later this month for individuals who meet certain criteria.
A H1N1 flu clinic is planned for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 21 at Forestview Middle School, 12148 Knollwood Drive, Baxter, and from 12:30-3 p.m. Nov. 25 at Cuyuna Range Elementary School in Crosby.
These are walk-in clinics and no appointments will be made. There is no charge for the vaccine.
The clinics will be for the following groups: All children ages 6 months to 9 years, adolescents ages 10-18 with high risk medical conditions, pregnant women and household contacts and caregivers of infants younger than 6 months.
H1N1 shots or FluMist will be given as appropriate for the individual's age and health.
Guidelines for clinics may change so residents are asked to call the Crow Wing County 24-hour flu hotline at 828-7022 before attending and also for more information about future flu clinics.
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