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The Maine Center for Disease Control reported Friday a young man from Penobscot County died earlier in the week because of swine flu.
The man, who was between the ages of 18 to 24, had an underlying medical condition that contributed to his death, according to John Martins, director of Employee and Public Communications at the Maine CDC.
The man was not attending any colleges or universities at the time of his death. His death marks the second swine flu death in Maine. The Maine CDC is not releasing his name and date of death. An autopsy confirmed the man’s death was the result of swine flu.
A 50-year-old York County man who died in August was the first Mainer to die of swine flu. In June, the World Health Organization declared swine flu a worldwide pandemic.
The University of Maine has seen no deaths related to swine flu. It vaccinated approximately 350 students Thursday and Richard Young, director of the Cutler Health Center, said UMaine was well on its way to duplicating that number by Friday’s end.
“We’re on target to do the same today,” said Wayne Maines, director of Safety and Environmental Management.
Thirteen childcare workers at the six children centers on campus were the first to be vaccinated on Thursday. Children under the age of six months, such as the ones at the Children’s Center at the University Park, cannot be given the vaccine, and so the people who care for them were vaccinated to protect them.
Students getting the vaccine expect for it to take about 35 minutes, including wait time.
Young said university health officials will meet next week to schedule further student clinics.
Currently the university is administering the vaccine to students in high-risk groups, such as 18- to 24-year-olds with underlying medical conditions such as asthma. The university had originally planned to hold clinics Nov. 9 and 10, but after being told by the Maine CDC the university would only receive 1,000 doses — not the 6,000 it requested — UMaine rescheduled.
