The Alachua County Health Department reported the third confirmed case of swine flu-related death in the county on Sept. 29.
The woman was a 41-year-old Alachua County resident.
The woman became sick in late August, saw a local physician and suffered from illness until her death in late September.
She suffered from other health conditions that may have had an effect on her death, said Paul Myers, assistant director of the Alachua County Health Department.
The first confirmed swine flu case in Alachua County was on May 1, and numbers continued to increase until the county health department stopped counting in mid-August.
There have been 135 lab-confirmed cases, a figure that is probably much lower than the actual number because many people don't seek medical attention, Myers said.
The H1N1 virus of the flu is similar to the seasonal flu virus because it's relatively mild for those infected, but the strain is one that has never been seen before and most are not resistant to it.
The regular flu period for Alachua county is from early December to early March, Myers said.
"It's highly unusual to have this many flu cases in September," he said.
Out of all people tested for the flu, 60 percent of people are diagnosed with the flu, and of those cases, 99 percent are the H1N1 strand.
"The H1N1 swine flu has replaced other flu viruses for now," Myers said.
The increase in swine flu cases has begun to stabilize, and Myers said he hopes the trend continues and cases go down. However, officials aren't sure how the virus will spread in the winter months.
The health department recommends people get the seasonal flu shot as well as the H1N1 virus flu shot when it becomes available.
Some students don't plan on getting any shots.
"I had one freshman year, but after that I never really took the initiative to get vaccinated," said Paul Tran, microbiology senior.
For more information, visit http://www.cdc.gov.
