Swine flu claims life of Cowichan woman
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
Updated: November 19, 2009 9:55 AM
The sixth Vancouver Island person to die from the H1N1 virus was a North Cowichan woman, the News Leader Pictorial has learned.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority confirmed the sad news late Wednesday.
“I can confirm we’ve had a sixth death of a patient on Vancouver Island from H1N1,” said VIHA spokesperson Shannon Marshall.
“She was a female from the Central Island area and yes, I can confirm she was a woman from the Cowichan Valley.”
Privacy concerns do not allow VIHA to release details about the woman, but the News Leader Pictorial can confirm she was a well-known 28-year-old who lived in the Somenos area and died Tuesday evening.
The woman, who had significant underlying health concerns before she contracted the H1N1 strain of the flu, was hospitalized before she died.
Marshall did say medical officials have noticed a disturbing trend in island H1N1 deaths.
“I had a conversation with (VIHA's chief medical officer) Dr. Richard Stanwick and he pointed out of the six cases, all but one of them have been women,” said Marshall, noting one victim was a female child under the age of five.
“They’ve all been younger and I don’t think we’ve had one victim who’s been over the age of 50.”
Marshall said it’s important to note all Vancouver Island victims had underlying health problems and “all of them would have been at serious risk from seasonal influenza.”
For more on this story, read Friday’s News Leader Pictorial or log onto www.cowichannews leader.com
