Welcome to HickoryRecord.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

HickoryRecord.com - Hickory Daily Record

HomeNewsEntertainmentSportsLifestylesOpinionCommunityWeather Online Tools Jobs | Real Estate | Shopping | Classified

Guilford man first in state to die after contracting swine flu

By Richard Craver | Journal Reporter

Published: June 24, 2009

Updated: 06/24/2009 02:51 pm

A Guilford County man was confirmed today as the first N.C. resident to die after contracting the H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu.

Moses Cone Health System said in a statement that the man, who died last Friday, tested positive for the influenza. The N.C. Division of Public Health also confirmed the positive test.

Hospital officials declined to identify the man, but said his family has been notified.

The hospital said that the man recently had a heart procedure at Moses Cone Hospital. He left in improving condition with no signs of influenza.

However, several days later, he came to Wesley Long Community Hospital in critical condition with severe pneumonia. He died hours in the intensive-care unit.

"We had been expecting there might be deaths in North Carolina related to the H1N1 virus since deaths have occurred in other states and other countries," said Bill Furney, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

"If a person who has other health complications, such as a compromised immune system, contracting any case of the flu can lead to a riskier health situation."State officials also said today that both the Triad and the state experienced a 44 percent increase in confirmed HINI flu cases in the past week — the Triad going from 16 to 23 cases and the state from 124 to 179.

That includes the first confirmed case in Davidson and Surry counties. There also are eight cases in Rockingham County, seven in Alamance County and six in Guilford County.

Furney said that the agency was not surprised by the sharp increase in H1N1 flu cases.

"That is to be expected and is reflected in case counts across the nation," Furney said. "Like seasonal flu, it starts with a few and soon becomes many. It is, in part, why we keep beating the prevention messages."

State officials said that laboratory-confirmed cases represent only a fraction of the likely number of cases in the state. They said that testing is limited mostly to people who are hospitalized with influenza-like illness or to those seen by doctors who are part of the state's influenza surveillance network.

In some cases, confirmed cases are shifted from one county to another depending on where the infected person was tested and resides.