A 44-year-old McMinnville man died of H1N1 influenza Wednesday, becoming the first Yamhill County resident to succumb to the pandemic virus.

Statewide, 27 deaths have now been attributed to the H1N1 virus. In Yamhill County, 18 residents are currently hospitalized with flu likely of the H1N1 strain.

David A. Hill, who was treated at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, was diabetic and had suffered a heart attack last year.

Influenza, both the new H1N1 strain and the seasonal strains that normally begin circulating in January, tends to be more deadly in people who have underlying health conditions or compromised immune systems. The seasonal flu kills about 36,000 Americans every year, most of them elderly people, extremely young children, or people with other health problems.

The H1N1 strain began circulating in April and became worse this fall. It has spread more rapidly, and has typically proven milder than the seasonal flu. However, it has been unusually severe in children, young adults, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions.

Hill's widow, Tamela, said the couple believed that he was in good health, and the diabetes well controlled. Initially, he appeared to have a sinus infection, she said.

"Just get the message out," that the virus can prove unexpectedly deadly, she said.

Macy & Son Funeral Directors is handling arrangements. A celebration of life is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday in the funeral home chapel.

Yamhill County Public Health has been vaccinating children at day cares and smaller public and private schools. It is scheduled to begin giving vaccinations in the McMinnville School District next week.

"One of our concerns with this virus has been the increased attack rate and severity among young children and pregnant women, compared to seasonal flu," said Dr. Robert Moore, the county health officer. "We continue to focus on children because they are such active spreaders of the disease."

The county has also begun to distribute limited quantities of vaccine to local hospitals and pediatric and family practice clinics. Meanwhile, it is retaining small amounts at its downtown office for people in high-risk groups.

In addition, while supplies last, the county will allow siblings, children not enrolled in school and pregnant women to undergo vaccination after school hours at schools scheduled for visits.

Parents of home-schooled children should call the school they are registered with, or the Public Health office, to make their arrangements.

"We appreciate the cooperation and patience we're seeing from most of the community," said spokeswoman Sarah Bates. "We understand that this is an emotional concern for some folks and they may feel like they are not getting the answers they want.

"As our amount of vaccine or the delivery date changes, we may need to turn people away who were previously told they could be vaccinated. In the next couple of months more vaccine will become available and there should be enough for everyone who wants it."

Part of the difficulty, she said, is that the county doesn't know ahead of time how much vaccine it will receive. "We are given a weekly allotment to order from and do not know how much to expect the following week," she said.

Nationwide, the slow pace of distribution has proven frustrating.

As soon as the vaccine was developed and tested, manufacturers began producing it. But it has to be incubated in chicken eggs, and the process is going more slowly than hoped.

So far, Oregon has received only about 6 percent of the amount it will need to vaccinate everyone in the high-priority groups, let alone the rest of the population. However, Dr. Mel Kohn, director of the state Public Health Division, said it will eventually be offered to all who are interested.

"We know that there isn't enough H1N1 vaccine for everyone right now," Kohn said. "We want those at the highest risk to go to the front of the line."

However, he said, "Even if you don't get a vaccination right away, there is still value in getting one eventually. It's likely that H1N1 will continue into the spring, so it's not too late to get protection."

In the meantime, health officials are urging people to practice good health and hygiene, as a matter of course. Recommendations include staying home when sick, washing hands frequently and covering the mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing.

Local schools have been seeing high absentee rates this fall, possibly in part due to the message from health officials to stay home when sick.

While McMinnville school absentee rates were still extremely high Monday, Oct. 26 - with 20 percent of Grandhaven Elementary students home sick and 14.36 percent of high school students missing - the rates were much closer to normal by week's end.

The previous week, absenteeism at McMinnville High peaked at 21.7 percent and averaged 10.68 percent at the district's six elementary schools.

This week, although several elementary schools saw rates of 10 percent or more for a day or two, most showed more than 90 percent of their students in class. The average absentee rate a year ago was in the 2.7 to 5.3 percent range.

Absenteeism at Mac High was under 9 percent by week's end - similar to a year ago. At the Media Arts and Communications Academy small high school, however, the rate was far higher than last year's 6.34 percent average - 23 percent on Monday, 13.86 percent Tuesday and a little over 11 percent Wednesday and Thursday.

Districtwide, nearly 13 percent of students missed Monday, 10.5 percent Tuesday, 8.6 percent Wednesday and 7.9 percent Thursday.

For specific local information, call the Public Health information line at 503-434-7443 and leave a message. For more general information, visit www.flu.oregon.gov.

Reporter Starla Pointer contributed to this article.