The Big Island woman, Swine flu

The Big Island woman, who was in her early 50s, died July 7 at Kona Community Hospital.

"Although flu was the primary cause of death for this individual, she had serious underlying medical conditions that exacerbated her condition and contributed to her decline and death," said Dr. Sarah Park, chief of the Disease Outbreak Control Division and state epidemiologist, in a news release. "We all need to take care of ourselves ... to fight off infection."

There have more than 1,000 reported cases of swine flu in the Islands since May.

Nationwide, there have been more than 40,000.

The first swine flu death in the Islands — a woman in her 60s — was on June 19. The O'ahu woman died at Tripler Army Medical Center and officials said she had other serious health problems. The second swine flu death was July 10 at The Queen's Medical Center. The O'ahu resident was in his late 40s and also had underlying medical conditions.

The news of a third swine flu death comes as the Health Department is making a major shift in how it reports swine flu activity in the Islands.

DOH officials said yesterday they would no longer be tallying up the total number of swine flu cases or investigating each case, but instead would concentrate their efforts on investigating clusters of cases, severe cases and swine flu cases in health care workers or among those who have traveled recently.

Other states are also deciding to stop their counts, which officials say represent just a small fraction of the total number of people who have gotten swine flu, or the H1N1 virus.