Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

First child in Southern Nevada dies of H1N1 flu

Updated Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 | 3:18 p.m.

Sun coverage

A 6-year-old North Las Vegas boy has died from H1N1 influenza complicated by underlying medical conditions, the Clark County Coroner's Office said today.

A spokeswoman for the coroner's office said the boy who died Thursday afternoon at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center succumbed to respiratory failure, H1N1 and sickle cell anemia.

Clark County has reported 24 deaths from H1N1 flu since the virus was reported in April.

A spokeswoman for the coroner's office said the 6-year-old boy who died Thursday afternoon at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center succumbed to respiratory failure, H1N1 and sickle cell anemia.

Before the 6-year-old boy, all H1N1-related deaths had been of adults, the Southern Nevada Health District reported.

While H1N1 flu cases have been reported as widespread in 48 states, including Nevada, this fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its reporting method on the so-called swine flu in late July. The federal numbers are confirmed through laboratory tests beyond clinics and doctors' offices.

While this is the first confirmed death in a Southern Nevada child, children suffering from H1N1 and ages 10 to 14 make up the highest numbers of patients reporting flu, federal health officials said.

Typically, seasonal flu, which has not appeared in the United States yet, has afflicted very young infants and people older than 65. In the case of H1N1, however, those under 20 years of age have suffered most.

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