BILLINGS – Health officials have confirmed that a 6-year-old Yellowstone County boy has died of complications related to swine flu.
Dr. Fred Kahn, an infectious disease specialist with St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings, said during a news conference Friday the boy died about two weeks ago of pneumonia due to complications related to influenza A, a subtype of swine flu. The diagnosis was confirmed by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.
Kahn says the boy, who died in the pediatric intensive care unit at St. Vincent, was healthy and did not have any underlying health problems when he contracting the swine flu.
The report marks the third death attributed to the H1N1 strain of flu in Montana.
The boy’s name has not been released.