The number of swine flu-related deaths outside of Mexico rose after the U.S. reported its third fatality and Costa Rica its first, but both men also suffered from complicating illnesses, health officials said. In Mexico, the center of the outbreak where 48 people with swine flu have died, most of the victims have been adults aged 20 to 49, and many had no reported complicating factors, Associated Press reported. Elsewhere, five others have died while infected with the virus, including the two fatalities reported Saturday, but each of them had additional health issues. People with chronic illnesses usually are at greatest risk for severe problems from flu, along with the elderly and young children. In Washington state, health officials said a man in his 30s had underlying heart conditions and viral pneumonia when he died Thursday from what appeared to be complications from swine flu. The state Department of Health said in a release Saturday that swine flu was considered a factor in his death. «We're working with local and federal partners to track this outbreak,» Washington State Secretary of Health Mary Selecky said. «We urge people to take this outbreak, and the seasonal flu we see every year, very seriously.» The death of a 53-year-old man in Costa Rica on Saturday was the first involving swine flu outside of North America. He also suffered from diabetes and chronic lung disease, the Health Ministry said. Previously, U.S. authorities reported swine flu deaths of a toddler with a heart defect and a woman with rheumatoid arthritis, and Canadian officials said the woman who died there also had other health problems but gave no details. The Costa Rican fatality was one of eight swine flu cases in the country confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Minister Maria Luisa Avila told The Associated Press. Mexico, which raised its count of confirmed cases to 1,626 based on tests of earlier patients, continued to gradually lift a nationwide shutdown of schools, businesses, churches and football stadiums.
