The state Department of Health yesterday confirmed Hawai'i's first swine flu death, saying the H1N1 virus contributed to the death of a person at Tripler Army Medical Center 11 days ago.

Health officials would not release the person's name, citing federal privacy laws. But officials did say the victim was in her late 60s and that she died June 19 at the military hospital.

The H1N1 virus alone did not kill the woman, health officials emphasized, but it likely contributed to her death.

H1N1, or novel influenza A, is commonly known as the swine flu.

"It was a contributing factor to the patient's already declining condition due to multiple serious health issues," said Dr. Sarah Park, chief of the DOH Disease Outbreak Control Division.

Janice Okubo, DOH spokeswoman, said the Hawai'i death is similar to many of the other novel H1N1 deaths across the country.

"Nationwide, the deaths seem to be related to people who have underlying health conditions and this is consistent with that," Okubo said.

The O'ahu resident's death is the first associated with the flu strain here since the first case was confirmed in Hawai'i on May 5 at Tripler. As of yesterday, the DOH has confirmed 545 cases in the state.

Nationwide, there have been 27,717 confirmed novel influenza A cases and 127 deaths as of June 25, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The state's first reported hospitalization of an adult with novel H1N1 influenza was confirmed on June 27. In that case, the O'ahu resident also had other health issues and developed pneumonia as a complication of the H1N1 infection, health officials said.

The Health Department said this person is responding to treatment and is recovering in a hospital.

"These two new severe cases of novel H1N1 are a sad reminder of the seriousness of influenza, particularly for those at-risk for complications," Park said. "Unfortunately, we knew this would happen eventually, as we have flu-related deaths and hospitalizations every year from regular seasonal influenza."

Each year, the seasonal flu sends hundreds of Hawai'i residents to the hospital and kills an average of 240, according to the DOH.

Novel H1N1 has been reported on each of the major islands, with most of the confirmed cases on O'ahu. State health officials yesterday said there was a recent outbreak on Moloka'i that involved firefighters.

However, Maui County issued a statement last night that only one firefighter had a confirmed case of swine flu, and that person has recovered and returned to work.

The 39 firefighters at the three Moloka'i stations are fine, the county said.