Swine flu deaths in U.S. now at double digits

21-year-old Marcus Antonio Sanchez of Salt Lake City, Utah became the 10th U.S. casualty of the H1N1 flu virus that is sweeping across the country. The period from infection to death occurred in less than a week.

The H1N1 flu virus that has been crossing the United States and much of the world claimed its 10th American victim, living up to its reputation for infecting and decimating the young. The tenth U.S. swine flu death, Marcos Antonio Sanchez, was only 21 years old. "This is not a person who was overall genuinely healthy," Dr. David Sundwall, executive director of the Utah Department of Health, said, according to The Associated Press. Sundwall said that Sanchez was overweight and had chronic medical conditions - including respiratory problems. The H1N1 flu has been particularly dangerous to younger victims, making it a particularly tragic outbreak. On Wednesday, a 13-year-old boy from Tucson, Arizona - who was hospitalized since May 10 - died of complications from the flu virus. With the outbreaks and deaths reported around the world, there is concern that the virus is receiving amplified attention relative to other more nasty health problems that have long been affecting the world. "In Geneva, health campaigners and officials from some poorer nations complained this year's World Health Assembly was neglecting diseases killing millions of people all over the world because of swine flu fears," AP reported. But since the H1N1 virus is new to the general ecology, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at the World Health Organization are continuing to caution that while the new swine flu bug may currently behave mildly, it is important for the health of global populations to understand it and to model responses in the event that it becomes a more dangerous strain.