Swine flu sends Carson child to hospital

A child with the city's third confirmed case of swine flu is the first in Carson City to be hospitalized with the virus.

The child is not old enough to be in school and does not attend a day care, City Health Director Marena Works said in a statement Friday afternoon.

Works said the child is recovering from the H1N1 flu. She did not give the child's name, age or sex.

The city reported the first two cases May 6. The minors were not hospitalized.

The child with Carson City's third case of the flu has been in Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center since Tuesday, said Dustin Boothe of Carson City Health and Human Services.

The Nevada State Health Lab confirmed the child had the virus after the hospital sent the lab a sample, Boothe said.

The child is getting better, but the city is still monitoring the case, he said.

"It's always a concern if the patient doesn't get better in a few days," he said. "We want to make sure the child is medically evaluated so it doesn't progress."

More than 50 cases of swine flue have been reported in Nevada. No deaths from the flu have been reported in the state.

A Sparks middle school was closed this week after more than a dozen students got the virus.

Swine flu has sickened more than 11,000 people in 41 countries. Mexico has reported 75 deaths, the U.S. 10, and one in both Canada and Costa Rica.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report