University of Utah officials are gearing up for an influx of H1N1 patients, some resulting from "exposure parties" hosted at homes on the Wasatch Front.

"It's horrifying" that parents are exposing their children to the virus intentionally "just to get the virus and be done with it," Kimberly Wirthlin, associate vice president for marketing and communications at the U.'s Health Sciences Center told a committee of the state's Board of Regents on Friday.

The U.'s hospital system is anticipating a surge of patients exhibiting H1N1 symptoms and has designated a separate area of the emergency department to keep them from infecting other patients. But the idea that people might be infecting themselves, Wirthlin said, is tough to deal with.

A 31-year-old Roosevelt man infected with H1N1 virus died Tuesday morning, becoming Utah's fourth victim of the flu this season.

The man had some pre-existing medical conditions, said Gary Child, public relations and marketing director for Uintah Basin Medical Center, but the hospital would not disclose the severity of those problems.

"Anytime a 31-year-old man dies, it's a concern, regardless of other medical conditions," he said. The man had been in the hospital, receiving treatment, for several days before succumbing to the virus, said Jeramie Tubbs, spokeswoman for the Tri County Health Department.

Statewide, there have been 127 hospitalizations related to both the H1N1 virus and the seasonal flu since Aug. 30, according to the Utah Department of Health. Forty-one of those patients were checked in during the past week.

One hundred percent of the 27 lab specimens that tested positive for influenza last week were confirmed as H1N1, officials said.

Tubbs said, though, that the number of positive tests is "no indication of the severity of the illness."

"People aren't testing for it," she said. "It's a little bit expensive. They don't want to overnight it to the labs. That's the frustration we're seeing."

Absenteeism in the majority of Utah's school districts has stayed fairly level this week, with up to 10 percent of students at some schools staying home with cold-like symptoms.

"We always tend to have a little bit of a flu break out this time of the year, but we haven't noticed anything abnormal," said Greg Hudnall, spokesman for Provo School District.

But pockets of illness are continuing to pop up.