The death of a 5-year-old Nashville boy who had the H1N1 virus has put parents on alert to look for the slightest signs that their child might be sick.
Max Gomez, who was a student at Henry Maxwell Elementary School in Antioch, became ill Friday and was admitted to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt on Monday. He died the same day. The state testing lab confirmed Wednesday that the boy had the H1N1 virus.
An initial autopsy did not indicate other health problems, though results will not be final for another 60 days.
A well-known member of the local theatre arts community and founder of Grant MacEwan University's musical theatre program died Thursday night from complications related to the H1N1 virus.
Tim Ryan, 62, died after battling a heart condition, pneumonia and the virus, family members said on Facebook.
Students and faculty members were notified of Ryan's death yesterday and took the news very hard, said university spokesman David Beharry.
Shannon lost her six-year-old son Dae'Jon to the swine flu last Thursday. He had battled sickle- cell anemia for years and was admitted to the hospital the day before he was scheduled to receive the H1N1 vaccination.
"I miss him coming to me telling me he wanted to talk to me. We'd have our little private talks about anything. He was really big on that."
Now, she's eight-and-a-half months pregnant with her third child and trying to find the financial resources to bury her first.
Billy Cary and his family have been waiting for one happy day for almost 8 weeks and the reality of it all is still sinking in for them.
Wednesday is Cary's first full day home from the hospital and he told FOX 26 News that the first thing he did was go upstairs and see his room -- his colorful room, painted in lime green which has become well-known as his favorite color.
Lime green ribbons were tied to trees throughout his street while Cary was in the hospital critically ill with the H1N1 flu virus and its complications, pneumonia and staph infection.
Cary says he is only maybe 70 percent back to normal. His toes are still sore and he describes them as purple and black, but there was fear he would lose his feet and hands from blood problems in the hospital.
Health officials are waiting for confirmation from lab work, but believe a college student in Cedar Rapids died of bacterial meningitis. The 21-year-old victim's name is not being released, but 10 people who were in close contact with the man have been given antibiotic treatment. The student attended Kirkwood Community College.
Curtis Dickson is with the Linn County Public Health Department. He says the student also had H1N1, which contributed to the suspected case of bacterial meningitis. Symptoms of bacterial meningitis include a high fever, headache and stiff neck. Bacterial meningitis is separate from viral meningitis, which is not considered fatal.
A 16-year-old Pierce County girl has died of what doctors believe may be swine flu, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department said Thursday.
The girl lived in the Buckley area and died in a Pierce County hospital, according to Dick Ferguson, a Health Department public relations consultant.
Hospitals are required to notify local health departments of flu-related deaths during the H1N1 pandemic. The Health Department was notified of the girl’s death at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, Ferguson said.
Anne Schuchat:.....in children under 18, we estimate 8 million children have been ill with influenza, 36,000 hospitalized, and 540 children have died from this pandemic influenza.
Mike Stobbe: hi, mike from AP. Doctor, did you say 540 children, and you were reporting about 120 recently. That's quite a jump. I thought the CDC was keeping careful track. Could you tell us a little bit more about how that number jumped so dramatically.
Anne Schuchat: that's right. As of last Friday we reported 129 children had been reported with laboratory confirmed h1n1 influenza. Additional reports have come in about pediatric deaths from laboratory confirmed influenza where typing information wasn't available. We know that a number of the deaths that we're seeing are occurring outside the hospital where testing is not possible. We know that not every patient with influenza gets a diagnosis of flu. For instance, many people can have a bacterial pneumonia following a flu illness and may or may not be recognized as flu. We don't think anything has changed. We think our 540 number is a better estimate for the big picture out there. We think individual reports we're getting through the national pediatric death notification system are vitally important. That system gives us additional detail about underlying diseases that children have, about issues like the bacterial pneumonia problem. With that system we make sure our guidelines are right and on track. We do think for influenza it's virtually impossible to find every case with a lab test. So the estimation method we are using now we believe gives a bigger picture, a probably more accurate picture of the full scope of the pandemic.
According to a press release sent out by the university, Dr. Keith Fagnou, a professor of chemistry in the faculty of science, passed away suddenly on Wednesday. CBC News has confirmed that he died of H1N1-related illness.
According to university officials, Fagnou had no underlying health conditions.
Fagnou held the University of Ottawa's research chair in the development of novel catalytic transformations. According to the university, he was an exceptional researcher who won several prestigious chemistry awards, including the Polanyi Prize, during his brief career.
Fifteen-year-old Chelsea Oliver's mom Cheryl Oliver is a nurse, but her training could not save Chelsea from what Cheryl believes was a deadly combination of infections including influenza, pneumonia and MRSA.
"She wasn't feeling well one day and it started off as a virus and a few days later she was in the I.C.U.," says Cheryl Oliver.
Chelsea passed away November first. Cheryl is still awaiting final test results but she suspects the flu Chelsea had was H1N1.
"There is some evidence that may indicate in certain individuals if they become infected with the strain of influenza A H1N1 it affects their blood cells in a way that it can paralyze their immune system," explains Babette Wright, a fellow nurse and a friend of Cheryl Oliver. "When they're exposed to other infections their body can't fight them, and this may explain why some individuals without underlying health conditions are becoming so ill with influenza infections," says Wright.
A 7-year-old girl has died from complications of the flu, becoming the flu-related death reported in Barry County.
Barry County Health Department Administrator Kathleen King reported the death of the young girl this morning.
The 7-year-old girl who resided in Barry County became ill with flu-like symptoms on Oct. 28. She then developed complications and was treated at a Springfield hospital. Unable to overcome the complications, the girl died on Nov. 10.
According to King, the girl had severe medical problems before contracting the flu. Tests were conducted at the Springfield hospital and came back positive for influenza A.
The H1N1 virus was detected in a 4-year-old Bremerton girl who died this week, but it is unclear if the virus directly caused her death, according to the Kitsap County Health District.
The 4-year-old died Nov. 9, but tests didn't confirm the presence of H1N1 until Friday.
According to Health District Director Scott Lindquist, the girl did not exhibit usual H1N1 symptoms like fever, cough and sore throat.
"What we have here is a little girl that died unexpectedly and had a positive test" for H1N1, Lindquist said.
An 8-year-old boy from Elmira suffering from the H1N1 virus was listed in guarded condition Saturday afternoon at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.
Elijah Nist, a third-grader at Parley Coburn Elementary School, became ill last weekend.
Erin Morseman, the boy's aunt, said Saturday night that there have been some improvements in Elijah's condition, but he is still in a medically induced coma and on life support.
indigo girl
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Edmonton, Alberta
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/swineflu/2009/11/07/11667996-sun.html
(hat tip pfi/pixie)