EL PASO, Texas -- A 60-year-old man from Fabens and a 45-year-old woman from West El Paso are the county’s 14th and 15th 2009 H1N1 influenza-related deaths, the El Paso Department of Public Health reported Wednesday.

Both individuals had underlying medical conditions and were recently hospitalized with an influenza-like illness. Laboratory tests confirmed each had the H1N1 virus. The cases are not related.

The Department of Public Health encourages the public to follow these precautions to keep from getting and spreading the flu:

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• If you are sick with flu-like illness, stay home for at least 24 hours after there is no longer a fever or signs of a fever (without the use of fever-reducing medicine). This is to keep from infecting others and spreading the virus further.

For more information about H1N1 flu call 2-1-1.