5th Calvert family member at hospital
By Lena H. Sun, Wednesday, March 7, 11:00 AM
A fifth member of the Calvert County family stricken by serious lung infections and complications of flu is at MedStar Washington Hospital Center for evaluation, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. Three family members have died in the past week.
The newest person to come under medical attention is the sister of Lou Ruth Blake, 81. Blake died at her home in Lusby on March 1. The sister has a fever but does not appear to have other flulike symptoms, the spokeswoman said.
Blake’s son, 58, and one daughter, 56, died Monday after they were hospitalized with upper respiratory symptoms. They had been taking care of their mother.
A second daughter, 51, who had also been a caregiver, is improving and is likely to be moved out of intensive care some time Wednesday, according to hospital spokeswoman So Young Pak.
Hospital officials said tests confirmed that the siblings who died had a strain of the influenza A virus and each also acquired a serious staph infection before they were hospitalized. The two developed severe bacterial pneumonia, which is not uncommon in people infected with the flu virus. The flu virus weakens and damages the lungs, and infection develops when bacteria invade.
Calvert County health officials said in a statement Wednesday that the cases were isolated to a single family and “there are currently no other affected individuals.” They said local health-care providers are not reporting any significant increase in patients with flulike symptoms.
Calvert County health officials have also been testing inside Blake’s home to determine whether there are additional substances there that could have contributed to the illnesses.
Commentary
Another Fatal H3 Case In Maryland?
Recombinomics Commentary 18:45
March 7, 2012
My 33 year old sister died on Tuesday morning in BWMC (old North Arundel) she got sick over the weekend was coughing up blood by Monday and died 4:30 am Tuesday. Hospital said it was pneumonia. but It happened so fast. sounds just like what these people had.
The above comments represent another anecdotal report on flu-like cases in the Washington DC area. The above fatal case (33F) was said to be at the Baltimore Washington Medical Center, just south of Baltimore, and was in response to comments on the Calvert County cluster, which has been H3 confirmed.
Although these comments are unconfirmed, the earlier description of the Calvert cluster coughing up blood was confirmed by subsequent media reports.
An earlier press release denies additional similar clusters, the above description appears to be a single case that was not part of a reported cluster.
http://smnewsnet.com/archives/10857