On June 8, the death of a 26-year-old Philadelphia woman was reported to be the first death related to complications from swine flu in the city, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health's Division of Disease Control.
Philadelphia Department of Public Health spokesman Jeff Moran described the woman as already "very ill" at the time of her hospitalization before succumbing to complications of a novel H1N1 influenza last Sunday.
Her death is the second swine-flu related death in the state of Pennsylvania and the 29th in the nation.
A 55-year-old woman from Berks County, where Reading is located, was reported to be the first swine flu-related death in Pennsylvania on June 4.
As of Monday, the state Department of Health recorded 78 cases of the disease to be from Philadelphia, with nine probable cases still under inspection.
All 50 states in the United States and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico were reporting cases of novel H1N1 infection by June 3, according to the Centers for Disease Control. There were 13,217 confirmed and probable cases as of June 5, with 27 reported deaths.
The infection has not affected the Penn community to date.
City Deputy Mayor and Health Commissioner Donald Schwarz explained to The Philadelphia Inquirer that younger people are more likely to encounter "grave consequences," whereas older people may have immunity to this disease because of exposure to similar subtypes in decades past.
Though the H1N1 influenza's symptoms are similar to those of seasonal flu - such as fevers over 100 degrees, coughing and body aches - it targets younger as opposed to older patients is the opposite of seasonal flu patterns.
As of yesterday,the Pennsylvania Department of Health's age distribution chart showed that the confirmed and probable cases of the disease are concentrated in children between the ages of five and 14, with 53.2 percent from this age group.
For further preventative measures, Schwarz and Philadelphia School District CEO Tomas Hanna will discuss the outbreak at Benjamin Rush High School this morning at 11 a.m.
The two will also offer guidance and advice to Philadelphia Schools affected by the outbreak as well as the general public.
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