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.
GOODWYN: ...Millie's back began to give her intense pain. And suddenly, on her way to the bathroom, the child was unable to stand unassisted.
GOODWYN: Alarmed, the Chikumbindis called their doctor and told their daughter they were leaving right away. But Millie shook her head and said she wanted to go not to the doctor, but to the hospital. And with those words, the child likely saved her own life. They put her in the car and rushed her to the emergency room at Medical City Hospital in Dallas.
Leah Chikumbindi says it was a shock when the doctors came out and told them their daughter was going to be put on life support immediately. But they had trouble grasping the depth of the threat. As they were preparing Millie for sedation, a nurse turned to the girl and gave everyone in the room a quiet clue: She asked Millie if she wanted a hug from mommy.
GOODWYN: Because the nurse knew Millie was not OK. She had swine flu and double pneumonia, and secondary infections were about to attack. Over the next few days, her lungs failed. She had to be moved from a normal ventilator to a high-frequency oscillator. Then her kidneys stopped functioning. Millie was undergoing multiple organ system failure, often an escort to the grave.
South Bend school officials are taking all necessary precautions following the death of an 11-year-old Clay Intermediate Center student.
Mercedes Lewis, a sixth-grade student at Clay Intermediate Center, died about 12:55 a.m. this morning at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, according to St. Joseph County Deputy Coroner Chuck Hurley.
Hospital personnel admitted the girl to the emergency room Monday morning with symptoms that included a sore throat, Hurley said.
Gabrielle Wilson, 13, died just after 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 23 after being admitted with flu-like symptoms.
Deputy Coroner Bill Myers said the girl had been seen at Family Practice Care, a clinic in Fredonia, where health professionals told her family to take her to the hospital immediately. The nearest hospital was in Marion.
"When she got to Marion, they called Norton's Children's Hospital and they flew down here, but by the time they got here she had passed away," Myers said.
Based on information he received from the hospital and family members, Myers learned that Wilson had been seen at Caldwell County Hospital on Sept. 18 or Sept. 19.
Tulsa Health Department officials have confirmed that 16-year-old LaTowyn Gaston died of swine flu. It has not been confirmed if the teen suffered from any underlying health issues that might have contributed to his death.
It is the first confirmed death caused by the H1N1 virus in Tulsa County. Gaston was a student at East Central in Tulsa.
I am praying that this wave is leveling off at my school. Absences are down just slightly, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Saw on the news that a teacher at a nearby district died of suspected H1N1 complications. Sad and scary.
The Naperville North High School community is mourning the loss of freshman Michelle Fahle, 14, who died unexpectedly Thursday morning.
Authorities said they are unsure what caused Michelle's death but she had complained of flu-like symptoms in recent days, according to DuPage County Coroner Pete Siekmann.
Michelle was rushed early Thursday by ambulance to Edward Hospital in Naperville where doctors pronounced the teen's death.
The DuPage County Health Department is working with the Illinois Department of Public Health to test for swine flu, or H1N1 virus, as well as other possibilities, spokesman David Hass said. He expects results Friday morning.
Montana hasn't been very good at reporting this flu, either at the state public health level (their weekly report last week to CDC was missing) or at the newspaper level.
Today is really the first Google Alert I've seen on school closings for H1N1 swine flu this year.
It hit Billings, a major city, in the spring and then sort of faded for the summer. Friends are telling me they have it now, though. It seems to be coming late here. We'll see if this is a bump or the beginning...
Montana hasn't been very good at reporting this flu, either at the state public health level (their weekly report last week to CDC was missing) or at the newspaper level.
Today is really the first Google Alert I've seen on school closings for H1N1 swine flu this year.
It hit Billings, a major city, in the spring and then sort of faded for the summer. Friends are telling me they have it now, though. It seems to be coming late here. We'll see if this is a bump or the beginning...
Schools opened in the southern states in mid to late August, and then the kids started to get sick with subsequent school closings noted. Closings have been occurring for weeks now. Perhaps we should do a thread on them for everyone to get to get a feel for just how widespread this is. I have avoided doing so just because there are so many, but it would be easy enough to do.
I think that we can expect that not every community will be equally effected either, and certainly not at the same time, thank God, because if we start seeing surges this winter, at least there could be help from other places.
Monday Catherine woke up with a fever showing the typical flu-like symptoms. The pediatrician told her to watch her daughter and when she woke up from a nap Tuesday unable to eat or talk, her mother took her to Dell Children's Hospital, where she says doctors told her that her daughter had the H1N1 virus.
"She was laying there and she would start crying. And I'd say it's okay, mommy's here and she didn't comprehend it. She didn't turn and look at me. I said squeeze my hand if you know that mommy's here and she wouldn't squeeze my hand."
Dr. Pat Crocker, chief of emergency medicine at Dell Children's, said Catherine tested positive for the type of virus that is suspected to be swine flu and a confirmatory test is being done. Catherine had no underlying medical conditions but rapidly developed brain swelling and heart dysfunction — rare complications of the flu, Crocker said.
The hospital reported the death to the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department, which said it could not comment on the case. If the H1N1 test is confirmed, it would be the fifth swine flu death in Travis County.
indigo girl
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Somewhere in Texas, This Child Survived the ICU
(hat tip pfi/pixie)
More here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113479788&ft=1&f=10