Milwaukee reports the state's first swine flu death. State Division of Health Services spokesman Seth Boffeli says the victim was a hospitalized adult. "There was in this case . . a common underlying health factor that contributed to the severity of the illness," says Boffeli. Officials in Milwauee were not releasing details on the death (PDF).
Boffeli says despite appearances, Wisconsin's rate of H1N1 infection is not appreciably be higher than in other states. "Wisconsin has been collecting a lot more samples than other states, and processing those faster than most states," he says. "While we still do see new cases of H1N1 out there, they're still for the vast majority of instances mild. We've really seen nothing or heard nothing from CDC, to indicate that we're any different than any other state."
Boffeli says this death reinforces the fact that flu can be very serious for people under the age of 2 or over the age of 65 or those who, like the Milwaukee victim, have underlying health concerns.
