Two more Sangamon County residents - a man and woman, both older than 65 - died this month after being diagnosed with H1N1 flu.
The deaths brought the total number of H1N1-related deaths among county residents to three, Sangamon County Health Director Jim Stone said Wednesday.
All three people had other "underlying medical conditions," he said.
Stone said he didn't know what role, if any, the H1N1 virus may have played in their deaths.
The two deaths occurred on separate days during the second week of November, Stone said. He wouldn't give more details except to say the fatalities were unrelated.
Sangamon County's first H1N1-related death, involving a man older than 65, occurred earlier in November.
The new flu virus, which first appeared in the United States this spring, has been diagnosed in a total of 42 Sangamon County residents who have been hospitalized, including the three people who died.
The two newly reported local deaths were among eight new H1N1-related deaths statewide that were announced Wednesday by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The only other Springfield-area county to report an H1N1 death this year was Christian County, where the lone fatality involved a man in his 60s who died Sept. 10.
There have been 64 H1N1-related deaths and 2,001 hospitalizations in Illinois since the global epidemic began this spring.
Stone said the Sangamon County fatalities involved people "outside the norm" for H1N1 flu complications. In Illinois and nationwide, most H1N1 deaths have involved people younger than 65.
"We were hoping there would not be fatalities, but we knew it was possible," Stone said.
The county health department continues to give free H1N1 flu shots to Sangamon County residents, and a shipment this week of 3,000 more doses of vaccine means the department has about 7,000 doses on hand.
Phone calls for the appointment-only shots have dropped off significantly in recent weeks, Stone said, though he believes that not all county residents recommended to receive an H1N1 shot have received one.
The department will be closed until Monday, but Stone said it's possible that the department soon may start giving H1N1 shots on a walk-in basis, rather than requiring people to call 753-3333 for an appointment.
The department so far has vaccinated almost 8,000 people for H1N1, Stone said.
He doesn't plan to lift restrictions on who is allowed to receive the vaccine until there is a change in recommendations from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention or the state health department.
Those allowed to receive H1N1 vaccine are: pregnant women, household contacts and caregivers for children younger than 6 months; health-care and emergency medical services personnel; all people from 6 months through 24 years of age; and people ages 25 to 64 who have a chronic health condition such as diabetes, asthma or disease of the kidney, lung or liver.
Children 9 or younger who are being vaccinated for H1N1 influenza for the first time need a second dose of the vaccine and should wait four weeks or at least 21 days before getting the second shot.
U.S. health officials said Wednesday that there's no evidence the H1N1 vaccine is causing any serious side effects.
Several private doctors in Sangamon County, including those at Springfield Clinic and the Capitol Community Health Center, have received limited shipments of H1N1 vaccine for their patients, Stone said.
Dean Olsen can be reached at 788-1543.
Seasonal flu vaccine
The Sangamon County Health Department continues to give vaccine injections for seasonal flu - not the new H1N1 variety -- on a walk-in basis, but fewer than 200 doses remain.
The department expects to receive its final shipment of seasonal vaccine -- about 1,200 doses - sometime next week, Stone said.
The department charges people $32 per shot for seasonal vaccine, and there are few restrictions on who can receive that vaccine. People who present their Medicare or Medicaid cards aren't charged for seasonal vaccine.
