The H1N1 virus has killed about 10,000 people nationwide. Missouri has officially announced the deaths of two residents.

There are several reasons for the discrepancy. The flu season in Missouri has been milder compared with other states. But state health officials have chosen not to publicize most of the H1N1 (swine flu) deaths.

When asked, a spokesman for the health department confirmed that 11 residents have died from the H1N1 virus. Only the first two were noted in press releases, and none is included in the state's weekly flu reports.

The deaths, while tragic, are not considered newsworthy, said state health department spokesman Kit Wagar.

"We don't put out press releases every flu season after people die," Wagar said. "I'm trying to get to a standard."

Although H1N1 is an influenza virus, federal health officials say it's unique, because it struck during the typical off-season and it targets a younger population.

Public information about H1N1 deaths varies widely by state. Releasing information about the deaths can let people know how the pandemic is affecting their community, without revealing enough to identify the victims, according to a report from the Columbia, Mo.-based Association of Health Care Journalists.

When asked, Missouri will release information including gender, county of residence and age range. Illinois puts a weekly tally of deaths on its website (currently 76) and charts the deaths by county and age range.

Some states, including Kansas, have issued press releases for every H1N1 death.

The deaths of children have been particularly noteworthy. There have been 224 confirmed pediatric deaths from H1N1 since the spring, while in a typical season the flu kills 50 to 100 children.

Reporters in Montana were given the age, gender, hometown, time of death and previous medical condition of a child who died in Billings. Health officials in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, however, declined to report the ages or genders of children who died there.

North Carolina doesn't release any identifying information, citing a need to protect family privacy.

That position is too extreme and shows how some states have taken the easy way out instead of building public trust, says Felice Freyer, chairwoman of the health journalism organization's right-to-know committee.

"They're giving out things that are so vague it doesn't give people a sense of what is going on," Freyer said. "People want to know how this is playing out in their own communities. To deny that information to people I think is going to make them suspicious."

DEATHS IN MISSOURI

The 11 deaths in Missouri do not constitute a public health concern worthy of press releases in part because they have been spread throughout 10 counties and because most of the people had underlying health conditions, according to the state health spokesman.

The toll includes Asia Conley, 14, of north St. Louis County, who died in September after being diagnosed with H1N1. Health officials originally attributed her death to stroke before H1N1 was considered a contributing factor.

It's thought that many more people have died from H1N1 than has been officially recorded.

When a person catches the flu, the ensuing complications such as pneumonia, respiratory failure or a bacterial infection are often listed as the cause of death. And many people who die from flu are never tested, or are tested after the virus can no longer be detected in the mucus or saliva.

The CDC asks states to report confirmed flu deaths by age group but not by subtype, meaning H1N1 deaths are not necessarily tracked. The agency uses mathematical formulas to estimate that 10,000 Americans have died this year from H1N1, according to the CDC.

The death toll in Missouri is proportional to the deaths nationwide because flu activity in the state has been less widespread, Wagar said.

"Missouri's been incredibly lucky."

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MISSOURI H1N1 DEATHS

Gender Age County

Male 40s St. Louis

Male 20s Caldwell

Male 40s Clay

Male child Jackson

Male teen Laclede

Male 40s Lafayette

Male 50s McDonald

Male 50s Newton

Male 30s Ripley

Female teen St. Louis

Female 20s Jackson

ILLINOIS H1N1 DEATHS

Illinois tracks deaths by county and age range. More than half of the 76 deaths in Illinois have been in Cook and surrounding counties. There has been one death in Madison and one death in St. Clair counties. There have been 15 deaths in people younger than 24.