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GREENSBORO — Guilford County recorded its — and the state’s — second death related to the H1N1, or swine flu, virus on Friday.

The patient, whose identity was not released for privacy reasons, is believed to have triggered a chain exposure that led to a scare involving 33 infants in an intensive care unit at The Women’s Hospital last week. None of those infants contracted the virus and are now believed to be in the clear.

“We believe the virus aggravated pre-existing medical issues and contributed to the death” of the original patient, said Dr. Tim Lane, an infectious disease specialist and the health system’s medical director of Infection Prevention Services.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with this patient’s loved ones.”

The male patient originally came into the hospital for treatment of what officials believed were asthma complications. He never left the hospital, said Moses Cone spokesman Doug Allred.

He was treated by a respiratory therapist at Moses H. Cone Hospital. The therapist later went over to The Women’s Hospital and worked in the infant area.

Once health officials learned the patient tested positive for H1N1 — and learned of the therapist’s exposure to the infants — the 33 babies began getting preventative treatments and closer monitoring. The therapist tested positive for H1N1 last week. As of Thursday, she had not returned to work, Allred said.

The incubation period for infants to catch the flu has passed, and 11 of the 33 thought to have been exposed have been discharged. “We feel very, very good about that,” said Joan Wessman, chief nursing officer for the Moses Cone Health System.

The scare caused state health officials to visit the hospital last week and probe its infectious control procedures. The hospital has received a letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services asking for a plan that would help the hospital quickly identify patients with the flu.

Wessman said the letter was expected. Moses Cone has already implemented some elements of its plan. “It centers (on) staff education and monitoring,” she said.

While symptoms of swine flu mimic those of the traditional flu, Wessman said the hospital is focused on making sure staff are able to identify patients who might have swine flu. Those procedures include getting the proper treatment to those who have a fever and respiratory symptoms, providing them with masks and moving them into isolation.

Officials will visit the hospital at a later date to ensure the plan has been fully implemented, Wessman said.

Friday’s death is the second recorded at Moses Cone this week. Another Guilford County man died June 19 at Cone’s Wesley Long Community Hospital after suffering severe pneumonia caused, in part, by the H1N1 virus. That patient also suffered additional medical problems.

The number of swine flu cases in the area and state continues to grow daily. There were 179 confirmed cases of H1N1 in the state on Wednesday. State officials have said it is now the predominant flu strain.

N.C. A&T officials on Friday confirmed two cases. Also on Friday, Forsyth County confirmed its first two cases of the H1N1 virus.

At Village Kids day care in Greensboro, co-director Chan LaRue said one of his staff members has been out of work with flu symptoms.

The Guilford County Department of Public Health has not confirmed the case as swine flu, and LaRue said the staff member was only diagnosed as having flu symptoms and had not been tested. The female employee began feeling ill Wednesday and was out of work Thursday and Friday. She has been cleared to return to work Monday, LaRue said.

LaRue has fielded a lot of phone calls from concerned parents. “I think they trust us, but I would be a little worried if they weren’t concerned,” he said.

He said Village Kids is a five-star center with no demerits for sanitation. Staff took precautionary measures and did some extra cleaning in the area where the sick employee worked, LaRue said.

No children have exhibited any symptoms that would cause alarm, he said.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 627-4881, Ext. 126, or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com