Laboratory results determined on Thursday that a death at the Alaska Native Medical Center early this week was not flu related.
A rapid influenza test initially indicated a positive flu test, but the results of the in-depth test by the state virology lab in Fairbanks found that initial test was incorrect.
Department of Health and Social Services Spokesman Greg Wilkinson said while the patient appeared to have flu-like symptoms, it's more likely she died from complications of a respiratory illness.
"A plus B didn't equal C," he said.
The woman who perished was from a Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta village according to Donna Bach, director of public relations for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation. Bach said the woman had waited a day to be flown out of her village to Bethel because of poor weather. Once in Bethel, the woman was immediately transported to Anchorage, where she later died.
Bethel, the hub community of southwestern Alaska, is located 400 miles west of Anchorage and off the road system. Communities in the region are accessible only by boat or plane.
Bach said the health corporation, which includes a regional hospital in Bethel and 42 clinics in each of the region's villages, is on "high alert" for the flu. The corporation is encouraging everyone to get this year's flu vaccine, which includes protection against H1N1. Vaccines are available at all of the region's clinics, Bach said, and will also be distributed at health fairs over the next few months, including one Saturday at the Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center in Bethel from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Incidences of the flu is not restricted to Bethel. Despite a slow to start to the season, flu cases are starting to emerge across the state. According to the state Department of Health and Social Services, 22 cases of the flu have been confirmed in Alaska.
Cases have been confirmed in pockets across the state. Juneau, Kenai and Anchorage hospitals have all seen reported cases of the flu, though not one has been reported in Interior Alaska or in the Mat-Su region, just north of Alaska's largest city.
Bethel has seen fewer than five cases according to Lori Chikoyak, infection preventionist for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation. While the hospital has seen flu-like symptoms for the last two weeks, its first confirmed cases of flu emerged this week. Chikoyak said it's likely the region will see more in the coming days.
The state said Wednesday it's hard to say what will be dominant strain of flu in Alaska this year, though so far it appears to be H1N1. While the strain skipped a season, it has never gone away after first appearing in 2009, Chikoyak said. She said it's hard to say how the strain first appeared in Bethel.
"There are not just people from here who have the strain," she said. "(The virus) just keeps circulating."
H1N1 achieved pandemic status in 2009, when it was responsible for more than 18,000 deaths worldwide. Alaska's first deaths from H1N1 occurred about one month after the pandemic was detected in the United States. In May of 2009, a 10-year-old boy and two middle-aged women from Alaska died after developing high fevers and increasing respiratory distress. During that first season, a total of 12 Alaskans succumbed to the illness.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the day the test results were determined. The test was confirmed Thursday, not Friday.
This is a developing story; check back later. Contact Suzanna Caldwell at suzanna(at)alaskadispatch.com. Follow her on Twitter @suzannacaldwell