Crystal Lake man dies of H1N1 flu

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CRYSTAL LAKE – A 50-year-old Crystal Lake man was the first person in McHenry County whose death was attributed to the H1N1 flu.

The man had medical conditions that increased his vulnerability to the virus, according to a news release from the McHenry County Department of Health. Officials declined to give the man’s name but said he died over the weekend.

Since April, Illinois has recorded 22 deaths and 542 hospitalizations, with McHenry County recording one death and 13 hospitalizations.

Illness due to H1N1 has ranged from mild to severe, and most people who have been sick have recovered without needing medical treatment, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

About 70 percent of people who have been hospitalized with H1N1 have had a medical condition, such as heart disease or asthma, that put them at “high risk” of serious seasonal-flu related complications.

Kane County reported its first H1N1-related death in May, just a few days after the first death in the state, when a Chicago-area resident died.

Two deaths associated with H1N1 have been reported in Lake County, the latest of which was Oct. 23, while the first in DeKalb County was Oct. 18.

The McHenry County Department of Health received its initial shipment of the H1N1 vaccine Oct. 16 for health care workers and first responders. The first McHenry County H1N1 vaccination clinics that will be open to the public are scheduled to begin offering vaccine today.

More doses are expected to be shipped every week through mid-January as vaccine manufacturers struggle to keep up with demand.

“There is more on the way,” MCDH spokesperson Debra Quackenbush said. “[Vaccines] will be distributed as they are received.”

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