BOSTON (AP) – A Boston woman in her 30s is the first swine flu-related death in Massachusetts, health officials announced Monday.

State and city health officials said at a Monday news conference that the woman who died Sunday had some other medical issues but they are not sure if they directly contributed to her death.

But Barbara Ferrer, director of the city public health commission, said the victim did have a confirmed case of swine flu. Officials would not release the woman’s name or other details about her. Officials also said they are still investigating the case.

“We believe very much that this is a reminder that flu can be serious,” Department of Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach said at the news conference. “But we are relieved, overwhelmingly, that cases (have been) mind.”

The woman had been hospitalized for about a week, officials said.

The state’s first reported death from swine flu comes as the number of confirmed swine flu cases in Massachusetts top 1,000.

Last week, the World Health Organization declared swine flu a pandemic, the first global flu epidemic in 41 years.

Two more Boston schools – the Carter Development Center and Louis Agassiz Elementary School – announced Friday that were closing for a week due to swine flu precautions.


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