Minnesota health officials reported six more H1N1 flu deaths and one more from an undetermined flulike illness on Thursday in Mower County, but said overall flu activity in the state dipped again.

Margene Gunderson, director of community health services in Mower County, said she was unaware of any specifics regarding the local death.

Gunderson said the recommended practice has been to not test specifically for H1N1 — because lab costs run high and a positive diagnosis doesn’t affect treatment — so this individual likely “slipped through the cracks.”

The new deaths brought the state’s total number of confirmed deaths from H1N1 flu as of Saturday to 21, plus two from unspecified flulike illnesses since the virus first turned up in the state, the Minnesota Department of Health said in its weekly update.

The latest data also showed flu activity continuing to wane slightly for the second straight week in Minnesota. Forty Minnesota schools, mostly in the Twin Cities metro area, reported outbreaks of flulike illnesses last week, down from 137 the week before. Visits for flulike illnesses to selected outpatient clinics across the state decreased. And no outbreaks were reported at the state’s long-term care facilities last week.

“I don’t want to say that we have peaked because we do want have to have several weeks of data. … But we have several indicators that look good,” said state epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield.

Gunderson said hospital calls regarding H1N1, as well as reported school absences for flulike symptoms, have also declined in Mower County. However, she did say another spike in cases is expected in late winter or early spring.

The confirmed H1N1 flu deaths occurred in Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota, Beltrami, Stevens and Wadena counties.

As of last Saturday, 1,261 people had been hospitalized due to confirmed H1N1 flu cases in Minnesota since Sept. 1 — including 134 new cases — bringing the total for the pandemic to 1,521.

The state still isn’t getting as much vaccine as it wants or needs, said Kris Ehresmann, who directs the department’s vaccine program.

“We at the Department of Health are frustrated and we know that the public is frustrated as well,” Ehresmann said.

The department is still relying on health care providers that get vaccine shipments to target the people who need it the most, spokesman Buddy Ferguson said.

“We’ve been encouraging providers to reach out to their high-risk patients,” Ferguson said. “We’ve been asking the public to be patient and persistent.”

Officials are still restricting the vaccine to people in the highest risk groups: children 6 months through 4 years old; children from 5 to 18 years old who have health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, or cancer; pregnant women; health care and emergency medical personnel who provide direct patient care, and parents and primary care providers of infants under 6 months old.

Gunderson said the next group — children under 9 who need two dosages — could be ready to receive vaccines soon.

She said she is trying to organize a clinic or multiple clinics before Thanksgiving for the younger kids.

The county will need a new supply of vaccines to do this, but Gunderson said she is hopeful those will arrive next week.