Missouri records second death from H1N1 virus

INDEPENDENCE — Missouri has recorded its second H1N1 death and the first in the western part of the state.

State health officials said a 24-year-old Independence woman died Wednesday night, several days after she was hospitalized with symptoms including diarrhea, coughing and extreme fatigue.

The Department of Health and Senior Services announced the death Thursday evening. A news release from the department said a private laboratory confirmed the woman had the H1N1 virus.

Neither the state nor Independence health director Larry Jones would identify the woman.

Jones said the woman had no other pre-existing conditions or illnesses, as has been the case with many H1N1-related deaths elsewhere.

"This is further evidence that, while most people experience only mild symptoms from the H1N1 virus, this flu is dangerous and can even be deadly," health department director Margaret Donnelly said in a release.

In May, a 44-year-old St. Louis County man, who had been diagnosed with H1N1 after traveling to Mexico, died at a St. Louis-area hospital.