By Tim Ruzek

Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

State health officials announced on Thursday six more H1N1 flu deaths, plus the death of someone in Mower County who died of an undetermined flu-like illness.

Overall, officials say, flu activity in the state dipped again.

The state now has 21 confirmed deaths from H1N1, plus two from unspecified flu-like illnesses since the H1N1 virus first turned up in the state, the Minnesota Department of Health said in its weekly update.

The confirmed swine flu deaths that were reported Thursday occurred in Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota, Beltrami, Stevens and Wadena counties.

Margene Gunderson, director of Mower County Public Health in Austin, said she isn't aware of the Mower County case. She said the area is seeing fewer cases of H1N1 flu. Her department is getting fewer calls about it, she said, and no school district in the county has reported an absentee rate of more than 5 percent for the past two weeks.

However, Gunderson said she expects another wave of H1N1 flu will hit the region this winter. When the county health department gets more vaccine, she said, it hopes to do vaccination clinics in the schools.

The state still isn't getting as much vaccine as it wants or needs, said Kris Ehresmann, who directs the state health department's vaccine program.

"We at the department of health are frustrated, and we know that the public is frustrated as well," Ehresmann said.

Statewide, 40 schools in Minnesota, mostly in the Twin Cities area, reported flu outbreaks last week. That's down from 137 the week before.

"I don't want to say that we have peaked because we do want to have several weeks of data, ... but we have several indicators that look good," said state epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield.

Between Sept. 1 and Saturday, 1,261 people in Minnesota have been hospitalized with the H1N1 flu.

Material from the Associated Press was included in this story.

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