Posted on 06/24/2009 8:04:24 AM PDT by metmom
Principal remembers local 5th grader who died from H1N1 (Georgia)
http://www.wrdw.com/health/headlines/64157237.html
Katie Beasley Oct 13, 2009
-A 10-year-old Columbia County girl fought for her life for several weeks before dying from complications from the H1N1 flu virus.
One day she was in class, and the next day she was sick but her teachers never thought it would be her last day at school.
Saturday 10-year-old Summer Rockefeller died from complications with the flu.
The fifth grader was a new student at Euchee Creek this year. Even though she only spent about three weeks in class...the little girl left quite an impression.
The loss of the fifth grader has been tough on everyone. You can especially feel it in the halls of Euchee Creek Elementary School.
“This is very hard. It’s very hard for teachers to think about losing a student,” says Principal Wanda Golosky.
As far as her family knew, Summer Rockefeller was a perfectly healthy 10-year-old girl. Full of life and love, until she caught the flu.
“She went in initially with some flu like symptoms and then there’s some pneumonia that developed and lots of other medical complications during the six weeks she was there,” says Golosky.
Summer died Saturday at Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta. She was only a student at the school for a few weeks, but they’ll never forget that smile.
“She was a sweet little girl, you can tell from her pictures and just the memories the teachers have of her that she was a very nice child,” adds Golosky.
It’s made the H1N1 virus Really hit home. “We’ve been hearing about it on national news and now we have it in our own neighborhood,” says Golosky.
Summer’s death has schools reassuring parents the flu is on their minds. “I think the main thing parents need to know is that every school in the county is working hard to maintain good, clean, hygienic atmosphere,” says Golosky.
But no matter how clean these hallways are, something will always be missing. “A tremendous loss for the family and certainly for our school community,” adds Golosky.
The school staff is taking up donations to help the family with medical expenses. Harlem Baptist Church is also hosting a spaghetti fundraiser next month to help raise money for the family. It is scheduled for November 5th, at the church.
A spokesperson for the family says they don’t believe Summer had any previous illnesses or problems.
Swine flu causes controversy in Russia
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/russia/091013/russia-swine-flu
Miriam Elder October 13, 2009
Across Russia, health officials are shutting schools, quarantining people and forbidding children from taking vacations abroad, all in the name of the fight against swine flu.
The country’s chief doctor, Gennady Onishchenko, insists that just 709 cases of the H1N1 virus have been registered, with 539 of those occurring in people who were infected while abroad. No one has died from the disease, he says.
But others present a much different version of reality.
In late September, Dmitry Lvov, the head of Russia’s State Virology Institute and one of the country’s top health specialists, said that tens of thousands of Russians had been infected with swine flu.
In an interview with state-run television, Lvov also said the country had seen its first death from swine flu in late August, in a nurse who had returned from a trip to Bulgaria and failed to seek medical attention quickly.
Within hours of the report, the Health Ministry jumped in and said the woman had not died of swine flu. Marina Mikheyeva had died of pneumonia, the ministry claimed, taking the rare move to publish its diagnosis and a full rundown of her health history on its official website.
In subsequent interviews, relatives of the woman described a frantic situation as her health deteriorated.
“We went to three hospitals and no one accepted us. We said she flew in from Bulgaria and might have swine flu. Right away, they said no,” Mikheyeva’s husband said in an interview carried on Interfax news agency. He said the family had yet to receive an official reason for her death.
Lvov continued to insist the woman had died of swine flu. Onishchenko likened the outburst to “an informational terrorist act.”
“Onishchenko is referring to the number of cases confirmed in a laboratory,” said Sergei Yerenin, at Russia’s office of the WHO. “Of course there are more cases than those confirmed in a lab.”
Upon hearing the interview with Lvov, the WHO included Russia on its list of counties affected by swine flu deaths. The Health Ministry subsequently protested the move and Russia was taken off the list.
Russia insists it is prepared for a potential epidemic. Last week, Deputy Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said the ministry had conducted clinical trials of two vaccines and had begun mass production. She said 35.5 million doses were to be produced by the end of the year.
Schools in the northern city of Murmansk and the Siberian city of Chita have been shuttered. Cases have been registered in the Kirov region, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, and Moscow region.
For now, the government appears to be focusing on the assumption that Russians are being infected from abroad. All arriving international flights are boarded by a specialist who checks passengers for infection.
For months, Onishchenko has been encouraging parents to keep their children from going abroad.
If they avoid (trips abroad), they are doing the right thing,” he said Tuesday, Interfax reported. “We’re not saying that individual trips are forbidden. If a child goes with his mother, go right ahead. What worries us are group trips, if kids will live in some dormitory and go to one cafeteria,” he said.
Irina Tyurina, press secretary for the Russian Union of Tourism Workers, said 40 to 50 percent of school trips for autumn had been cancelled.
The strangest approach to swine flu here, however, came earlier this year, when Onishchenko banned pork imports from Mexico and a host of U.S. states. The H1N1 virus cannot be transferred through food. But this is a country where many people think it is the cold draught from a window that poses the greatest risk to health.
Scotland:
TOP SCHOOL HIT BY ‘WILDFIRE’ SWINE FLU
Swine on the up in Edinburgh
Wednesday October 14,2009
By Daily Express Reporter
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/133938/Top-school-hit-by-wildfire-swine-flu
SWINE flu has struck 160 pupils and 10 staff at a boarding school in Edinburgh.
None of those affected have yet needed hospital treatment, but teachers say the virus swept through Merchiston Castle School “like wildfire” after 12 boys became ill a week ago. Boys aged between 13 and 15 have so far been the worst affected, and extra nursing cover has been drafted in.
Deputy headmaster Nigel Rickard said: “Despite the fact we have very strict health policies, inevitably in close proximity in a school, it spreads around like wildfire and any school would find it difficult to contain.
“We have had to take on extra nursing cover and extend our health facilities in the school by providing more beds for the sick children.
“We have a medical centre in the school, which is fully staffed by qualified sisters, and we have opened up an ancillary medical centre.
“Some boarding pupils have gone home, others are being cared for in school. We are keeping going, but it’s not been an easy time.”
Children who had been displaying symptoms have been advised they must have been free of sore throats and high temperatures for 48 hours before returning to school.
Merchiston, where fees range between £3,700 and £8,000 a year, was founded in 1828 and has the motto ‘Ready ay Ready’.
Asthma Most Common Condition In Hospitalized Swine Flu Patients
By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/13/AR2009101303419.html
An analysis in 10 states of people hospitalized with the pandemic strain of H1N1 influenza shows that asthma is by far the most common underlying condition associated with severe cases of the disease.
In children, other much rarer chronic conditions, such as sickle cell anemia, cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, are also predisposing patients to life-threatening bouts of the virus, federal health officials said.
Epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied the experience of about 1,400 people older than 18, and 500 children who had been hospitalized in 10 states since the new influenza strain emerged in April. The states were California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Tennessee.
Among the hospitalized adults, 26 percent had asthma; 10 percent had diabetes; 8 percent had a chronic lung disease such as emphysema; 7.6 percent were immunosuppressed from cancer, HIV infection or another ailment; and 6.1 percent were pregnant. (Heart disease was also common, although CDC officials could not immediately say what fraction of patients had it.)
In all, 45 percent of adults ill enough to be admitted to the hospital had a preexisting condition. {so 55% did not..)
CDC epidemiologists do not know what fraction of the rest were obese — a newly recognized risk factor for severe or fatal flu. An earlier analysis of 227 patients found that 15 percent were obese, and 8 percent were morbidly obese.
Among children hospitalized with flu, asthma and neurological or muscular diseases were the most common underlying conditions, followed by blood disorders, especially sickle cell. About 6 percent of children had a blood disorder; percentages for the other conditions were not available. {why not?}
Anne Schuchat, a physician who directs the CDC’s center for immunization and respiratory diseases, said there are two reasons why pregnant women are at an unusually high risk for flu complications.
4-year-old Tulsan’s death may be linked to H1N1
Last Update: 8:46 pm
State health officials are trying to determine if a Tulsa boy’s death was caused by swine flu.
According to a Tulsa Health Department spokesperson, a four-year-old boy tested positive for “Type A” Flu.
A lab sample has been sent to the State Department of Health for confirmation of H1N1.
The Centers For Disease control reports 81 children nationwide have died from the infection.
Because so many kids are getting sick with both the seasonal flu and the H1N1 virus, the children’s dose of Tamiflu is hard to come by.
Tamiflu is a prescription medication both treats and prevents flu symptoms if taken with 48 hours of exposure to the flu, or the on set of symptoms.
Compounding pharmacies are able to take the adult form of the drug, and make into a syrup that can be given to kids.
Dr. Mark VanHolt is a Pharmacist at Saffa Compounding Pharmacy at 81st Street and South Sheridan. He tells 2NEWS the children’s dose of Tamiflu is in short supply because the early onset of flu season, combined with the widespread infection of both strains.
VanHolt says, “The manufacturer is not able to supply it all. As far as that goes, the only way they are able to get it is through the capsule from and we turn into a suspension form.”
That suspension form is a syrup. It’s compounded with a collection of sweet flavors, such as cotton candy, that make it easier for children to swallow.
It’s not produced by drug companies, so the only way parents can get it, it by bringing their child’s prescription to a compounding pharmacy, such as Saffa.
Some insurance companies won’t cover compounded medications. So check with your insurance carrier to find out if you are covered.
Due to the risk of side effects, some pediatricians recommend healthy children heal from the flu on their own, instead of taking Tamiflu.
Weekly 2009 H1N1 Flu Media Briefing
October 13, 2009, 12:00 p.m.
http://www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2009/t091013.htm
Audio recording (MP3)
MN - 4 St. Cloud students have been hospitalized with flu
By Dave Aeikens • daeikens@stcloudtimes.com • October 13, 2009
The number of St. Cloud school students who have been hospitalized with the flu rose to four today, school officials said.
Two high school students were hospitalized — one today and one Friday, according to Elisabeth Lodge Rogers, director of special services.
Both students who have been hospitalized had underlying health conditions making their case of the flu potentially more dangerous, Rogers said.
At the same time, the number of students coming down with influenzalike symptoms continues to shoot up in St. Cloud and other school districts.
The first St. Cloud student hospitalized was reported Oct. 6.
North Junior High School and Technical High School have been added to the list of schools in St. Cloud and increasing the number of schools reporting outbreaks to the state in the region to 21.
Only Apollo High School, South Junior High School and the Area Learning Center, or three of the 12 St. Cloud public schools, have not had enough students come down with flu symptoms to have to report. Schools that have 5 percent of the student population or three students in one class showing flu symptoms are required to report to the Minnesota Department of Health. Rocori, Sauk Rapids-Rice and Sartell-St. Stephen have also had schools report outbreaks this week and previously.
St. Cloud school district is also asking parents to make sure they have an accurate emergency phone number at their children’s schools so school staff can reach them if a child gets sick during the school day.
“We really need to have good emergency numbers. We have had a few situations where we have little kids that are really sick and we can’t get a hold of parents,” Rogers said.
St. Cloud, which has more than 9,400 students, reported today that 442 have influenzalike symptoms. On Monday, 324 students were reported ill. Those numbers are only students who are suffering from influenza, school total absentee rates are higher. Numbers are rocketing up at Clearview Elementary School in Clear Lake, which has 420 students and 76 are out with flu symptoms.
A family fun night at Roosevelt Early Childhood Center was postponed today to reduce chances of spreading the virus and Rocori Middle School canceled a dance on Friday.
So far, seven people have died in Minnesota from H1N1 novel influenza. The most recent was a 6-year-old Corcoran boy who was otherwise healthy. Schools are expecting to host H1N1 vaccine clinics no sooner than Nov. 9. Vaccines for seasonal flu, which has similar symptoms and dangers as H1N1, are running short in St. Cloud and other parts of the state.
Wednesday is the last day of school in Minnesota before the Education Minnesota convention break Thursday and Friday. School officials hope that might help slow the spread of the virus.
“We are hoping the four-day break from school might help a bit,” Rogers said.
http://www.sctimes.com/article/20091013/NEWS01/110130046/1009
Ottawa delays swine flu vaccine delivery
Conflict mounts as Canada shelves nearly 1 million doses of H1N1 vaccine until November
Caroline Alphonso
Toronto — From Wednesday’s Globe and Mail
Published on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009 9:50PM EDT
Last updated on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009 9:57PM EDT
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/science/ottawa-delays-swine-flu-vaccine-delivery/article1322494/
(((On Oct. 19, PHD will begin vaccinating children in area schools. Only children with permission slips signed by their parents will be vaccinated. Vaccinations in the schools will continue through the first week in December. )))
N. Idaho school absentee rates suggest widespread ‘Swine Flu’
06:07 PM PDT on Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Panhandle Health District, KREM.com
http://www.krem.com/news/local/stories/krem2-101309-swine-flu.213b9c1c3.html
HAYDEN, Idaho — School absentee rates in some northern Idaho schools are double and triple the normal rates for this time of year, which parents, particularly those of children with underlying health problems, need to note.
Most absences are attributed to H1N1 influenza.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports this week that hospitalization rates nationwide for influenza are higher than normal. Hospitalization rates for children ages 5-17 and adults ages 18-49 from April until now exceed the average flu season rates.
Idaho is one of 37 states reporting widespread influenza activity. Reports of flu activity in September and October are rare. Idaho has had four deaths related to H1N1 since September 1.
H1N1 is the only flu virus circulating in northern Idaho at this time. Anyone with symptoms should stay home; the virus is contagious and spreads easily.
The first shipment of vaccine to protect against H1N1 arrived in northern Idaho last week. On Oct. 19, PHD will begin vaccinating children in area schools. Only children with permission slips signed by their parents will be vaccinated. Vaccinations in the schools will continue through the first week in December.
DAILY FATALITY SUMMARY (Reports posted on October 13,2009)
UNITED STATES 25*
Alabama 1
Arizona 1*
Arkansas 2
California 2
Colorada 1
Florida 2
Kentucky 1
Maryland 1
Montana 1*
New York 1
Texas 9
Washington 2*
West Virginia 1
CANADA 0
WORLDWIDE 10
India 7
Israel 1
United Kingdom 2
NOTES: US figures are now provisional since data comes straight off the news thread without the usual vetting.The Arizona,Montana,and Washington cases are all unconfirmed as yet.
http://www.singtomeohmuse.com/viewforum.php?f=1
Turkey:
Ankara school closed for a week as seven students get swine flu
As Turkish Health Ministry has been trying to prepare schools for a wave of swine flu outbreaks— which is likely to hit the world, including Turkey, with the advent of winter— a primary school in Ankara was closed for a week yesterday after four students have been diagnosed with the H1N1 flu, popularly known as swine flu.
Ankara provincial health director Mustafa Aksoy announced on Tuesday evening that a student at Elementary Division of Bilkent Laboratory and International School had been diagnosed with swine flu but he was in good health. The student, B.T., reportedly attended a summer school in Scotland short time ago. Health Ministry yesterday announced that swine flu cases discovered at school increased to four and the school was closed for a week. The school will be disinfected against the virus by Ankara Municipality.
Cihan news agency reported that three more students have also been diagnosed with swine flu. The number of students who had swine flu increase to seven, Cihan reported.
Trinidad and Tobago:
Suspected swine flu death probed
By ODETTE LONEY Wednesday, October 14 2009
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,109106.html
UNCONFIRMED reports reaching Newsday last night suggested that at least one of two persons who died at the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) yesterday, succumbed to the H1N1 (swine flu) virus.
Although the South-West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) is still awaiting official reports on the deaths, sources at the SFGH said that at least one death and two hospitalizations have been attributed to the swine flu disease.
OH:
School to discuss Ohio boy’s swine flu death
AP POSTED: October 13, 2009
http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/92202.html?isap=1&nav=5031
WHITEHALL, Ohio (AP) — His school says it will talk with other students about the 14-year-old who last week became Ohio’s first child death from swine flu.
Jon Fowler died Thursday night at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.
Ohio:
Patients flooding Cleveland area ERs in fear they have swine flu
By Kaye Spector, The Plain Dealer
October 13, 2009, 11:49PM
http://www.cleveland.com/medical/index.ssf/2009/10/patients_flooding_cleveland_ar.html
Unnecessary fear over swine flu is clogging up area emergency rooms.
Three of Cleveland’s major hospitals — MetroHealth Medical Center, University Hospitals Case Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic — said Tuesday they are seeing unprecedented numbers of people coming into their ERs with flu symptoms.
Family says central KY man died from H1N1
Posted: Oct 13, 2009 11:57 PM EDT
Updated: Oct 13, 2009 11:59 PM EDT
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=11309867
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A sixth Kentuckian has reportedly died from the swine flu.
Family members confirm 39-year old Matthew Finger died in Scott County earlier this month. Although Finger had not gone to the doctor, but the coroner said he did not appear to have any significant underlying medical conditions.
Finger’s death is the second case this week attributed to the swine flu. Monday, health officials said the death of a 60-year-dol Fayette County woman who had ssignificant underlying health conditions was related to H1N1.
H1N1-related deaths have also been reported in Jefferson, Caldwell and Christian counties. According to State Health Commissioner William Hacker, Kentucky is experiencing widespread swine flu activity.
Vaccine begins trickling in to Houston
By TODD ACKERMAN Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 13, 2009, 11:33PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/health/6666456.html
Houston-area 2- and 3-year-olds became the first local patients to receive the swine flu vaccine Tuesday as the first batches finally became available to the public here.
Following the noontime delivery of a little under 10,000 doses, an association of Texas Children’s Hospital doctors began administering the nasal spray at most of its 44 locations around Houston.
“It was a good first day and we’re ready to keep going,” said Kay Tittle, president of Texas Children’s Pediatric Associates, which employs roughly 160 pediatricians. “We had tentatively anticipated it today, but we were still a little bit surprised when it came.”
Tittle said the vaccine went over well with the children who got it because it was the nasal spray rather than the shot. The shot could arrive later this week.
Some 12,000 Texas providers have registered to receive the vaccine.
(((((( An interesting article about an E.R. doctor dealing with H1N1 Flu ......)))))
New Mexico:
Fear & infection on the swine flu front lines: An ER doc’s snapshot of the virus
By Dr. Frank Huyler
Wednesday, October 14th 2009, 4:00 AM
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/10/14/2009-10-14_fear__infection.html
The decontamination room at the ER where I work is like a fallout shelter from the Cold War: all steel and concrete and fluorescent lights. Four smaller rooms with heavy doors open from a single larger one. The smaller rooms can be sealed airtight, and everything can be hosed down and sterilized.
The room is new. It’s designed to treat victims of toxic exposures - acids and poisons and the like. Exposures like that are rare, so I’d never once set foot in it.
When I saw it for the first time this week, I realized that its purpose was not simply the rare semitruck full of pesticides rolling over on the freeway. Someone, somewhere had considered bigger things.
They were right, because now we’re using the room 24 hours a day. We’re filling it up with patients with swine flu, or H1N1, as it is properly known. We’ve got nowhere else to put them.
I’ve been practicing medicine for 15 years, and I’ve never seen flu like this. They’re coming in by the hundreds. Fevers of 103 or 104, shaking chills, misery. They wait for hours in the lobby or in the halls, and you know them because they’re wearing the yellow masks we give them at the door.
The masks make everyone feel better. Whether they have an effect, however, is less certain.
I wear a mask too, as much as I can. It’s uncomfortable and hard to talk through. I don’t want to get this flu, though, and I especially don’t want to bring it home to my 5-year-old son, so I wear it. I’m likely to get the flu anyway unless I am vaccinated soon, because my exposure, just like that of every other hospital worker in the United States right now, is extreme.
The vaccine, we’re told, will arrive any day.
As I write this, the intensive care unit at our hospital has 10 critically ill patients on ventilators because of this flu. All of them are relatively young, healthy adults. I’ve never seen that before, either.
When I go into the decontamination room, I don’t shake hands with the patients waiting there. They’re coughing and shaking, wrapped in blankets. They are mostly poor, and tend to be Native American and Hispanic. A half-dozen pairs of eyes look up at me over their yellow masks as I enter each smaller room. It’s like something out of the past.
I speak to the patients quickly, one by one. Through the masks, both my questions and their answers are muffled. I look at their vital signs. Those who are sickest, whose heart rates and fevers are high, get an IV and several liters of fluid. Those who have certain other conditions - diabetes, asthma, etc. - get a prescription for Tamiflu, an antiviral drug that has some effect.
Then we send everyone home, and the decontamination room fills up again.
The hospital was full before the epidemic began, and now patients in every high-risk category one cares to name - those with heart or lung or kidney disease, for example, or cancer - are being exposed. It is pushing our health care system, already in tatters, to the utmost.
I leave the decontamination room through three heavy steel doors, each opening at the push of a button. I wash my hands twice - first with water and soap, then with alcohol-based cleanser. I rub the cleanser on my stethoscope, and I rub it on my pens.
When I get home at 1 a.m., I take off my scrubs; my boxers and T-shirt, and my shoes and socks. I stuff all my clothes in a plastic garbage bag. Then I open the door to the house, where my wife and son lie sleeping, and walk directly down the hall to the shower.
Huyler is an emergency physician in New Mexico and author of the novel “Right of Thirst.”
Comment: A quick Google search indicates that Dr. Hulyer practices in Albuquerque and that he is certified in emergency medicine.
Rwanda: Swine Flu Cases Hit 25 - Report
Irene V. Nambi
14 October 2009
http://allafrica.com/stories/200910140067.html
Kigali — Laboratory confirmed cases of the Influenza A H1N1 (Swine flu) have increased with 11 new cases reported yesterday. This was revealed by Dr. Justin Wane, the head of the Swine Flu response team in the Ministry of Health.
According to Wane, two of the new cases are officials from King Faisal Hospital while the remaining nine are pupils from the previously reported Marie Auxiliatrice Private School in Kigali.
“All the new cases are people who came in direct contact with the initial family that tested positive for the virus. Just like the 14 cases that we had, these new cases have also been isolated and are being treated at home until the quarantine period ends,” Wane told The New Times.
Uganda: Health Ministry Stops Swine Flu Screening
Conan Businge
13 October 2009
http://allafrica.com/stories/200910140440.html
Kampala — ALL border and airport swine flu examination points have been removed.
The Director General of Health Services, Dr. Sam Zaramba said since the virus was already in the country, there was no need to screen people coming in.
“It is of no impact to screen out infected people at the airports and other entry points when the general population is already exposed,” Zaramba said.
He added that suspension of swine flu screenings had been approved by the World Health Organisation.
WI:
Flu slams school district
Medford cancels classes, activities for week
By Ashley A. Smith • For the Wausau Daily Herald • October 14, 2009
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20091014/WDH0101/910140645
The Medford Area Public School District shut down its schools Tuesday because of a high number of absences from the flu, including H1N1 flu. All after-school activities and sports also have been canceled.
The schools will reopen Monday.
“There’s a very large number of students at the high school ill, at 30 percent,” said Medford Superintendent Pat Sullivan. “Teachers and every employee are all out and the schools are completely shut down.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.