Deaths of Students, School Nurses and Teachers Once the Schools Re-opened

[indigo girl]

Memphis, Tn

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/sep/03/nashville-boys-swine-flu-death-puts-parents-alert/

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.

[indigo girl]

Fontana, California

http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_13815230

A 7-year-old San Bernardino County boy has died from complications of swine flu, three days after being sent home from school after falling ill.

The mother tells the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin that Joey Holt of Fontana was sent home from school on Nov. 2 because of a fever but it went away. Jessica Holt says her son later became pale and lethargic a couple days later. She called the ambulance when he took a turn for the worse on Nov. 5.

She says the boy, who had asthma, had dreamed of becoming a doctor.

(hat tip pfi/pixie)

[indigo girl]

Honolulu, Hawaii

http://www.khon2.com/news/local/story/Death-Linked-to-H1N1-Push-for-More-Vaccine-Doses/b1kH9dQ1Wk6ULyZct5vqLQ.cspx

State health officials are reminding parents to get young children vaccinated for the H1N1 swine flu virus, after a five-year-old child from Samoa died this week in Honolulu.

The child had been being treated for about a month at Kapiolani hospital for complications of the swine flu.

(hat tip pfi/pixie)

[indigo girl]

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6374.cfm?Id=93117

Newville's family issued the following statement about his death:

Tyler was happy, healthy active 12-year old who had no underlying health issues. He started running a low-grade fever Wednesday night. He stayed home from school Thursday with typical, mild flu-like symptoms. Friday morning his fever broke, but his breathing was becoming labored. He was taken to Sanford Clinic and from there, he was taken by ambulance to Sanford Children's Hospital where he was admitted to the intensive care unit. At the children's hospital, he was diagnosed with H1N1, pneumonia and severe shock. Because of the shock his body was not able to respond to treatment the way it should, and despite the huge effort of all the doctors and nurses, he passed away at approximately 6:30 p.m. Friday.

We want to stress to everyone the importance of getting immunized and taking every precaution to prevent getting or spreading H1N1.

(hat tip flutrackers/RoRo)

[indigo girl]

Morgantown, West Virginia

http://www.dailymail.com/News/200911200285?page=2&build=cache

Sharon "Sherry" Burke was only 44 years old. Burke died last Friday at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown following a brief illness caused, in part, by the swine flu virus, according to her obituary.

Burke's mother, Mildred, said her daughter had been suffering from sinus and bronchial infections since sometime in September, and she had taken several rounds of antibiotics to no avail before her hospitalization. She eventually was diagnosed with swine flu and double pneumonia, her mother said.

(hat tip pfi/aurora)

[indigo girl]

Columbiana, Ohio

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=99838194268&topic=12591

http://www.wytv.com/mediacenter/[email protected]&navCatId=11

On Wednesday, November 18th at approximately 3:55 a.m., Cathleen Ann Wagner, of Columbiana, Ohio, passed away due to complications of the H1N1 virus. Mrs. Wagner had been ill for nearly three weeks, having spent most of that time in intensive care at the Cleveland Clinic. Funeral services will be held on Monday, November 23rd at 11:00 a.m. at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Salem, Ohio. A brief viewing period will precede the service, and will begin at 10:00 a.m. that morning.

A devoted elementary school teacher, Mrs. Wagner spent nearly 30 years teaching at Joshua Dixon Elementary School in Columbiana, Ohio. Most recently, Mrs. Wagner taught Kindergarten, but before that she had taught the first and third grades.

[indigo girl]

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

http://yankton.net/articles/2009/11/12/news/doc4afba7898effa876451858.txt

South Dakota's 14th reported death from the H1N1 flu was 49-year-old Terry Mathis, the superintendent of schools in Ethan.

He died Monday at a Sioux Falls hospital.

Mathis was diagnosed with cancer about two months ago. He stayed on the job until mid-October and took treatment in Sioux Falls and at the Mayo Clinic. But he recently came down with pneumonia and the flu virus.

[indigo girl]

Medford, Oregon

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091121/NEWS/911210304/-1/news07

...she was placed on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, which provides oxygen to patients whose heart and lungs are so severely diseased or damaged that they can no longer function.

A preschool teacher, Jacquelyn will be unable to return to work for six months to two years, depending on the progress of her recovery, he said. Because her immune system was severely weakened, Jacquelyn said she will probably not return to teaching preschool but will choose a more controlled environment, perhaps helping her father in his business, in which he leads workshops.

"I'm hoping that with will power, faith and encouragement, it won't take two years," she said.

[indigo girl]

Washington County, Maryland

http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=233515

Niki Queen-Rhoderick, 57, a kindergarten teacher at Conococheague, became the second Washington County Public Schools teacher to die in the past five days when she passed away at Washington County Hospital at about 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Rhoderick said his wife contracted a sore throat more than a week ago. Last Wednesday, she went to Smithsburg Medical Center for tests, he said. She continued to be ill, had a temperature of about 103 degrees and couldn't keep her medicine down, Rhoderick said.

On Thursday, she was taken to Washington County Hospital, where she underwent blood tests and was placed in intensive care, Rhoderick said. He said his wife's doctor said at the hospital that she had contracted H1N1.

[indigo girl]

Knox County, Tennessee

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=11158006

This death occurred back in September.

A Knox County school nurse has died and her family says they believe it's due to complications of H1N1 flu. However, the state Department of Health has not confirmed the cause yet.

"She was told that she had the swine flu, is what she told me," West says.

West remembers the last time she spoke to her friend on the phone.

"She sounded bad. I thought she maybe had pneumonia, because it sounded like it was all in her chest," West says. "The next day she was gone. It about killed me. She was the best thing, other than my family. I love her."

[indigo girl]

Lebanon, New Hampshire

http://thedartmouth.com/2009/11/23/news/masters

Henry Masters, a student in the master's of public health program at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, passed away this weekend after testing positive for the H1N1 virus. Masters had a chronic autoimmune disorder that College President Jim Yong Kim said in a campus-wide e-mail Monday afternoon was the "underlying cause" of his death.

Masters was admitted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center last week, according to an e-mail Karen Tombs, TDI academic programs administrator, sent to TDI faculty, students and staff Sunday morning.

Master's health later worsened due to "serious complications," Tombs said in her e-mail.

(hat tip pfi/aurora)

[indigo girl]

Christiansburg, Virginia

http://www.pulaskinow.com/community/obits/20495.html?task=view

http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/227433

Since when do they not test or at least do an autopsy?

"You couldn't have known a more healthy person than who she was," she said.

When her fever would not subside, she was admitted to the hospital, and doctors determined she had pneumonia in both lungs, Hinkley said.

Doctors didn't test for the flu virus because "she was too far gone with pneumonia," Hinkley said.

"Doctors were 95 percent sure she had it. All the symptoms were that."

(hat tip pfi/monotreme)

[indigo girl]

Honolulu, Hawaii

http://www.kitv.com/news/21728735/detail.html

Joshua Nevis fell ill in June with a fever. His mother said it came on suddenly.

"And I noticed that he looked pale. So, I went to check on him and he was unresponsive. I called 911. I did CPR while I waited for the paramedics to arrive and I couldn't tell if there was a pulse," Erica Neves said.

Paramedics treated Joshua Neves and took him to Kapiolani Medical Center. He died in the ICU from acute respiratory distress and pneumonia brought on by H1N1, his parents said.

"Our son was healthy. He was a strong healthy boy. For something like this to have devastated his body; it's very hard to comprehend," Erica Neves said.

"I go from playing with him on a Wednesday to opening up the obituary and seeing my son's face, and seeing a person who passed away at 75, a person who passed away at 101, a person who passed away at 85, and then a No. 3 next to my son's name. That's beyond comprehension," Max Neves said.

(hat tip pfi/aurora)