Growing H3 Maryland Death Cluster Raises Concerns
Recombinomics Commentary 12:00
March 8, 2012
“We don’t yet know what this is about,” Orlowski said. “She has a fever and a cough. They were all together at a funeral last week. Individuals could easily have caught the flu–a large gathering of people, hugging, consoling, possibly sharing a meal.”
“If the individuals had the flu at that time it is quite likely that others are showing signs of the flu,” says Orlowski. ‘If I was in that family and felt ill, I would seek medical attention early.”
The above comments strongly suggest that the sister of the index case (81F) for the Calvert County, Maryland cluster is also infected by the H3 confirmed in her sister, nieces, and nephew. This case raises serious concerns about the Calvert County announcement of no new cases or clusters, which appears to be dependent on lab confirmation and thus, is ignoring symptomatic contacts, include the above hospitalized case.
Moreover, the above case has fever in cough, in contrast to media reports claiming that the only symptom upon hospitalization was fever.
Moreover, the funeral cited above is almost certainly the March 3 funeral (in Lusby) for a nephew, who was killed while falling a neighbor’s tree, also in Lusby. Thus, the transmission chain appears to be active, and new cases should be developing symptoms this week.
More information on cases under investigation would be useful, as would detail on the H3 testing (which has been withheld), including full sequences for all eight gene segments.
Here’s an obituary for a fourth fatality that is a relative of this cluster. Noting the date, his may be the funeral that the other victims attended.
Name:
BRIAN W. BUCK
Dates:
Birth date: March 25, 1961
Death date: February 25, 2012
Obituary:
Brian Winfred Buck, more affectionately known as “Jake” and “Bally”, was born on March 25, 1961 in Calvert County, Maryland to the late Frances Delores Stewart Buck and Nathaniel Buck, Sr. He peacefully departed this life on Saturday, February 25, 2012.
[snip]
Left to cherish many memories of his life are his two beautiful daughters and six grandchildren whom he deeply loved: Nadine (Jonah, Lynaijah, & Jamon), and Levina (JayVion, Kaniya & Merriyah), three brothers: Nathaniel, Jr. (Joyce), Steve (Mary Jane), and Levi (Felicia), three sisters: Robin (friend Stanley), Renea (Leroy), and Brenda (friend Kevin), three uncles: James, Richard, and Charles Buck, six aunts: Ruth Blake (now deceased), Beatrice, Louise, Patricia, Delores, and Mary Buck, Marnette and Lucille Stewart, and Emmalene Holland, a very special friend Catherine Stewart, along with a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Visitation:
10:00 am to 11:00 am on Saturday, March 3, 2012 at Eastern UM Church 975 Eastern Church Road Lusby, MD 20657 (map/driving directions)
Service:
11:00 am on Saturday, March 3, 2012 at Eastern UM Church 975 Eastern Church Road Lusby, MD 20657 (map/driving directions)
Note: This man DID NOT die of flu. Nevertheless, it provides a clue as to whose funeral it could have been and the timing (and a fourth tragic death in the same extended family).
Calvert man crushed while cutting up tree
Published: February 26
A Calvert County man died Saturday afternoon when a root ball the size of a small car rolled onto him while he was cutting up a toppled tree, authorities said.
Brian W. Buck, 50, of Lusby was working on an oak tree that fell last August during Hurricane Irene, said Lt. Steve Jones of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office. When a large log rolled into the hole where the tree once stood, Buck jumped into the hole to retrieve the log.
Maryland flu deaths mysterious
The Calvert County investigation into the flu deaths of 3 family members in Lusby, Maryland, found two of them–a 58 year-old brother and his 56-year-old-sister died of serious lung infections, a complication of seasonal flu.
The CDC already has confirmed the siblings died of influenza A. The strain is still unknown. Their 81-year-old mother, who was being cared for by her three children died at home Thursday of complications from the flu. The surviving sibling, a 51-year-old woman, remains in guarded condition at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., where she is responding to treatment.
Dr. David Rogers, Health Officer of Calvert County, says the investigation into the flu deaths of the three family members in Lusby, Maryland, is continuing. Rogers told CNN while unusual, these were isolated cases and the community at large should not be overly concerned or alarmed.
“This is extremely rare. I think what happened here is that we had an elderly woman who got flu, then she suffered a complication of flu, a severe bacterial pneumonia. Three kids came to provide bedside care and came in close contact. They may not only have caught flu from her but the serious lung infection that she had.”
Rogers said. “This is a very isolated situation where you have four people in a home, in close contact. This happens not infrequently in elderly people.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 90% of seasonal flu related deaths and more than 60% of flu related hospitalizations in the United States each year are in people 65 or older.
The sister of the deceased 81-year old woman is now also being treated for flu like symptoms at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
Dr. Janis Orlowski, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, says the woman was admitted last night and is in fair condition.
“We don’t yet know what this is about,” Orlowski said. “She has a fever and a cough. They were all together at a funeral last week. Individuals could easily have caught the flu–a large gathering of people, hugging, consoling, possibly sharing a meal.”
“If the individuals had the flu at that time it is quite likely that others are showing signs of the flu,” says Orlowski. ‘If I was in that family and felt ill, I would seek medical attention early.”
Orlowski also treated the brother, who passed away at the hospital Monday night.
She says the bacterial infection they had was a staphylococcal (staph) infection, which she calls a super infection. Cultures on the surviving sister are not back yet. The source of the staph is still unknown, but Orlowski says the bacteria is naturally on the body. On skin, in the nose. Most people, she says, don’t catch it from someone else.
“The question is did the mother have the staph where it went to the hands of the children and they got infected or did each end up becoming super infected with their own bacteria and we don’t know the answer to that. It’s likely we will never know.”
And rare enough that they looked for other sources.
“We did look for poison, carbon monoxide in the house, did they all ingest something?” Orlowski asks. “It’s astonishingly rare, such that we are all looking that other explanations.”
Orlowski says over the last several days the hospital emergency room filled with nearly 400 patients. Most had chronic illnesses like heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and liver disease made worse by a bout of flu.
“It’s flu season in the mid-Atlantic area so I urge the public to get vaccinated if you have not been, wash your hands, and if you are ill, don’t go to school or work. We don’t want you to spread the illness.”