Our Heidi Walters was at the press conference earlier this afternoon, and can confirm that Humboldt County has indeed seen its first death from the H1N1 virus.
The decedent — a middle-aged woman — was admitted to Redwood Memorial at the end of July. She tested positive for the virus on Aug. 9, and died on Friday. County public health officials reported that the woman had serious preexisting medical conditions, which the flu presumably exacerbated.
Hers was the fifth case of the new virus to hit Humboldt County since it emerged earlier this year. To date, there have been 7,983 hospitalizations and 522 deaths resulting from the disease nationwide.
Public Health is scrambling to prepare for an intensive vaccination outreach campaign in advance of the coming flu season. Overall, they expect that without action as much as half — 50 percent — of the county’s could contract the virus in the coming months. Those most at risk include schoolchildren, pregnant women and people with certain preexisting medical conditions, especially obesity and respitory problems.
There’ll be more on the story in this week’s Journal.
This article appears in Know When To Kill Them.
It wasn’t a swine flu death.
A person with preexisting medical conditions died.
They also had swine flu.
Swine flu did not cause the death.
Likewise, you could say that her death was ultimately due to the fact that she had once been born.
Filed under severe lack of journalism.
Sorry. You are incorrect, all the way around. She died of swine flu.
Nah Hank. I’m pretty sure that if I walk slowly due to arthritis, and you run me over in the crosswalk while driving your Porsche Carrera GT, it was the arthritis that killed me.
Owner of Moby Dicks bar in the Castro dies from Swine Flu
Doug Murphy, co-owner of Moby Dicks and Blackbird, died on Friday, on August 21st. The death was announced last Saturday on Blackbird’s facebook fan-page.
“Hello my dearest friends,” Shawn Vergara wrote on the page. “It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that our dear friend and business partner, Doug Murphy has passed away on Friday. During this time we would ask that any questions be held back from the staff while we put our best face forward. We will keep everyone posted as to when any services will be held. Come by, have a shot of Jager and a Bud Light to Doug. We miss him dearly.”
The cause of death was from complications of the Swine Flu according to msnbc. Memorial services are still pending, but you can be updated by visiting the Blackbird fan-page. Murphy was 41.
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-20225-SF-LGBT-Issues-Examiner~y2009m8d25-Owner-of-Moby-Dicks-bar-in-the-Castro-dies-from-Swine-Flu