Posted on 06/24/2009 8:04:24 AM PDT by metmom
Within minutes, six-year-old Rubjit Thindal went from happily chatting in the back seat of the car to collapsing and dying in her father's arms.
"If we had known it was so serious, we would have called 911,'' Kuldip Thindal, Rubjit's distraught mother, said in Punjabi yesterday. "She just had a stomach ache -- she wasn't even crying.''
Rubjit was pronounced dead at hospital barely 24 hours after showing signs of a fever. Later, doctors told her parents she had the H1N1 influenza virus. She is believed to be the youngest person in Canada with the virus to have died.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.guelphmercury.com ...
CT:
Kent Center School officials: There’s a confirmed case of swine flu `within school community
Updated: 10/14/2009 09:03:16 AM EDT
http://www.newstimes.com/ci_13558549?source=most_emailed
KENT — In a letter sent to parents and guardians of students at Kent Center School Tuesday, school officials announced that there is one confirmed case of H1N1 virus — swine flu — “within the Kent Center School community.”
The communication, sent to parents and guardians by Principal Rima McGeehan and school nurse Betsey N. Levesque, was a followup to an e-mail sent by officials over the weekend.
The Tuesday letter did not specify whether the individual who has contracted the virus is a student, a teacher or another member of the school community.
The letter assures parents that “every precaution for the safety and health of our students and staff” is being taken and includes instructions aimed at the prevention and spread of swine flu.
For current information about the H1N1 virus, visit www.ct.gov/ctfluwatch.
a new death in Volusia County, Florida...
October 14, 2009
5th swine flu death in the area announced
By ANNE GEGGIS
Staff writer
A 58-year-old Volusia County man’s death announced today is the first death associated with the H1N1 virus in which an underlying medical condition was not a factor, said Dr. Bonnie Sorensen, health director of the Volusia County Health Department.
Four others have died since June when the virus became active in the area.
The Volusia County Health Department began distributing its first vaccinations against the disease, also known as swine flu, that was discovered in Mexico in April. At the Health Department, first responders and human service workers lined up to get their dose of FluMist. The Health Department received a shipment of 3,600 doses Tuesday and expect more next week. The injectible vaccine is expected shortly
http://www.news-journalonline.com/newsjournalonline/breakingnews/flu101409.htm
Very interesting article about vaccines!
Flu vaccines revealed as the greatest quackery ever pushed in the history of medicine
http://www.naturalnews.com/027239_vaccines_flu_vaccine_.html
Ping to freeper justsaynomore Tamiflu informational post 2,725 .
(( Exercise & the Flu ))
October 14, 2009 , 12:01 am
Phys Ed: Does Exercise Boost Immunity?
By Gretchen Reynolds
Marc Romanelli/Getty Images
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/phys-ed-does-exercise-boost-immunity/?em
Two recent experiments hit rather close to home at this time of year. In the first, published last year in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, researchers divided mice into two groups. One rested comfortably in their cages. The other ran on little treadmills until they were exhausted. This continued for three days. The mice were then exposed to an influenza virus. After a few days, more of the mice who’d exhausted themselves running came down with the flu than the control mice. They also had more severe symptoms.
O, goody! I can cut back on my exercise routine!
I remember that years ago, the British did a study in which one group of people were asked to immerse their feet in cold water for a length of time, and several of them came down with colds a few days later.
It was suggested that the cold virus somehow secreted itself in the “nooks and crannies” of the feet, and this caused it to reemerge with greater vigor to reinfect their host.
TX
Tarrant County reports second H1N1 flu death
02:45 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 14, 2009
FORT WORTH — Test results have confirmed that a man who died of a flu-related illness in Tarrant County last week had the H1N1 flu strain.
In a statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Tarrant County Public Health said the victim was in his late 50s, but privacy restrictions prevented any further identification.
It is the second Tarrant County death linked to the H1N1 virus.
The Texas Department of State Health Services said the next shipments of the H1N1 vaccine will be allocated to large private pediatrician practices and family medicine doctors. No time frame for delivery of the vaccine was announced.
The H1N1 swine flu is widespread across Texas and 36 other states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lee County resident dies from H1N1 virus - FL
Posted: Oct 14, 2009 2:42 PM EST Updated: Oct 14, 2009 2:42 PM EST
LEE COUNTY: A 30-year-old Cape Coral woman has died from the H1N1 virus, according to the Lee County Health Department.
The health department says the woman had been hospitalized before her death and didn’t have any medical conditions that would increase her risk of complications from the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu.
“That is one of the things that is so alarming about swine flu, it doesn’t react the way seasonal flu does. Normal healthy people with no pre-existing conditions can have very severe reactions that can lead, ultimately, to death,” said Jennifer James Mesloh of the Lee County Health Department.
As of October 14, a total of 112 people have died from the H1N1 virus in Florida.
The Lee County Health Department wants to offer the vaccine to the entire community at free vaccination clinics later in October.
The health departments will hold the vaccination clinics at area high schools. People who are in the high risk categories will be givern the first supplies.
Those most at risk include:
* Children and young adults between 6 months and 24 years
* Pregnant women
* People who live with or care for children younger than 6 months old
* Health care workers and emergency medical services personnel
* People age 25 through 64 years who have health conditions associated with higher risk of medical complications from influenza
The Florida Department of Health toll-free number provides public health information and updates on H1N1 Swine flu. The information line is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EDT, seven days a week. Information is available in English, Spanish and Creole. The Florida Flu Information Line is 1-877-352-3581.
http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=11314601
3 Hamilton County Flu Deaths Reported In 6 Weeks
More Swine Flu Vaccine Arrives, Though Public Not Rushing To Take Advantage
posted October 14, 2009
Three Hamilton County residents have died from the flu in the last six weeks, officials of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department said Wednesday.
Becky Barnes, administrator, said, “Hamilton County is continuing to experience significant influenza illness. For most people in the community, flu illness has been mild, but for some this virus has been deadly. Since flu deaths, both pediatric and adult, became reportable to the Health Department on Sept. 1, a total of three deaths have been reported in Hamilton County residents- ages 27, 51 and 77.”
With the arrival of an additional 1,200 doses of 2009 H1N1 FluMist on Tuesday, this allows the health department to continue its targeted vaccination campaign, she said.
Ms. Barnes stated, “Even though we have been pleased with public response to the vaccine, we want the community to know that we have more capacity to give vaccine than the community is taking advantage of.”
Officials said before the vaccine was available, “simple hygienic prevention measures like handwashing, staying at home when ill, and covering coughs and sneezes were the only way to prevent the spread of this illness. But now, 2009 H1N1 is a vaccine-preventable illness; vaccination is the best way to stop this pandemic. Our community now has the ability to achieve a much-greater level of prevention.”
To date, the Health Department has given approximately 800 doses of the 2009 H1N1 FluMist at the Eastgate Town Center location in three days. There are a total of 400 future appointments booked.
Appointments are still available and can be made quickly and easily by calling the Health Department’s hotline at 209-8393.
At this time, appointments can be made for the next day or two, and wait times at the Eastgate Town Center location are brief.
In addition to weekday appointments, evening and Saturday appointments are available.
2009 H1N1 vaccine shipments will be arriving at the Health Department on a continual basis. Parents of children under 10 are reminded to return 4 weeks after the first vaccine is given, so that an additional dose can be administered. The Health Department is currently focusing vaccination efforts on CDC-identified priority groups eligible for 2009 H1N1 FluMist.
The CDC-identified priority groups the Health Department will be making appointments for are individuals who:
· Are from 2 through 24 years of age
· Are from 25 through 49 years of age and
o Live with or care for infants younger than 6 months
o Are healthcare or emergency medical personnel
The Health Department will continue to announce future H1N1 vaccination clinics and vaccine shipments.
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_160929.asp
Tulsa County boy’s death confirmed H1N1 flu
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20091014_11_0_Tedaho122094
By SUSAN HYLTON World Staff Writer
Published: 10/14/2009 1:44 PM
Last Modified: 10/14/2009 2:38 PM
The death of a 4-year-old Tulsa County boy has been confirmed as being caused by the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, the Oklahoma State Department of Health said Wednesday. A laboratory sample sent to the OSHD confirmed the results after the boy tested positive for influenza A.
The child, who was a pre-K student at Cooper Elementary School, has not been identified.
Spokeswoman Pamela Williams of the OSHD said there have been eight lab-confirmed H1N1 deaths since Sept. 1, when such deaths began being reported to the Centers for Disease Control.
Three of the deaths occurred in children under 18 and most had an underlying medical condition, she said.
A Tulsa teenager died earlier this month from swine flue, state health officials confirmed last week.
LaTowyn Gaston, 16, was identified by his aunt, who said he had no previous chronic health problems. He died the day after his 16th birthday.
Tulsa Public Schools also released the following statement: “Tulsa Public Schools was saddened to learn of the death of a four-year-old student at Cooper Elementary School. Our hearts and prayers go out to the boy’s family and his classmates as they cope with this tragedy.”
By SUSAN HYLTON World Staff Writer
Flu bug wreaking havoc with high school football in western Ohio
Posted 23m ago
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/football/2009-10-14-ohio-flu_N.htm
Flu shuts down Ashwaubenon High School
Sports events will be forfeited
Updated: Wednesday, 14 Oct 2009, 3:21 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 14 Oct 2009, 2:56 PM CDT
ASHWAUBENON - Ashwaubenon High School is closing for the rest of the week because of large numbers of students absent with flu-like symptoms.
According to a letter sent home to parents and posted on the school’s Web site, increasing student absences reached about 41 percent Wednesday. In order to reduce the likelihood of increased student illnesses, the letter states, the school will close to students Thursday and Friday. Staff members are expected to report to school as usual. All other schools in the district will remain open.
http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/local_wluk_ashwaubenon_high_school_closing_200910141455_rev1
Wondering when our district will close....I know they are monitoring cases closely here.
thanks for posting the article :)
That’s interesting.
Kind of reminds me of the old remedy for colds or the flu ( I don’t remember which) of sitting well wrapped with your feet in a pan of hot water.
NOnt. boy, 15, dies after contracting H1N1 virus, second boy recovering
The Canadian Press
TIMMINS, Ont. |
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 4:48 pm
TIMMINS, Ont. - A 15-year-old boy in Timmins, Ont., has died after contracting the H1N1 virus, the first such death reported in the northern Ontario city.
Dr. Susan Kaczmarek, the medical officer of health for the Porcupine Health Unit, says it’s uncertain if he had any pre-existing medical conditions.
A second 15-year-old boy diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, is recovering at home.
Kaczmarek released the information on Wednesday but did not say when the boy died.
Six people in the area have been diagnosed with H1N1 to date.
http://www.680news.com/news/headlines/more.jsp?content=20091014_164821_8204
‘I’ve Never Felt So Scared’: The Faces of H1N1
Inside Two Hospitals Where Young Victims of H1N1 Fight for Their Lives
By CHRIS BURY, SARAH HODD and SHANI MEEWELLA
Oct. 14, 2009
VIDEO: Fight of Their Lives
Ten-year-old Benjamin Oback has the typical face of the emerging swine flu pandemic in its more serious stages. In Sacramento, Calif., he lies in the critical care unit at the University of California at Davis Children’s Hospital.
His parents pray and stand vigil. For nearly two weeks, their son has been fighting for his life.
“I feel awful. I feel like part of my soul has been crushed,” said Benjamin’s father Eric Oback. “It’s the worst imaginable feeling to see your kid fall that quickly and to be that ill. The night that he went to the emergency room was the scariest moment I’ve had in my entire life.”
It started out like a normal flu. On Sunday, Oct. 4, after riding his bike, Benjamin felt out of breath.
“On Sunday, he complained his chest hurt,” said Oback.
‘He Became Unresponsive’
“Benjamin was seen to have a minor case of the flu,” his mother Julie Oback said. “I had taken Benjamin to his pediatrician Tuesday morning because he had a mild fever. His pediatrician listens to his lungs. He said his lungs were clear. I asked him about giving him Tamiflu, and he said, ‘No, he’s not that sick. He should be better by the end of the week.’ Nine hours later, he took a turn for the worse, and he became unresponsive.”
Benjamin had passed out and was rushed to the hospital.
“So that night, Tuesday night [and] early Wednesday morning was the worst,” said Julie Oback. “And it looked like it was touch and go for quite a while. But they were finally able to stabilize him; since then, they’ve generally kept him stable.”
“This wasn’t the normal course. Most people who get H1N1 are fine, but you don’t know who’s going to take a turn for the worse,” said Julie Oback. “That’s what’s so scary about it.”
“In Benjamin’s case, the main symptom was that fluid built up on the outside of his lung rather than the inside of his lung, and I think that’s probably why his pediatrician didn’t catch it with a stethoscope, because the fluid on the outside doesn’t gurgle when you breath,” Benjamin’s father said. “I think the fluid outside caused his lung to collapse and stop functioning.”
Already, H1N1 is proving far more deadly for children than the seasonal flu.
“When Benjamin first presented to UC Davis, he was gravely ill,” said Dr. Joanne Natale, who treated Benjamin at the hospital. “He wasn’t conscious. He wasn’t making sense. He was not able to speak to us. Now, he’s recovered significantly. He’s able to interact.”
From the Playground to Intensive Care
Like Benjamin, nearly half the kids admitted to hospitals with a case of the virus wind up in intensive care. At Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., 8-year-old Grace Silva-Rivera was breathing with a ventilator Tuesday.
“When she arrived here, she was pretty ill. She needed to be supported with mechanical ventilation, a breathing tube. Her blood pressure was not good,” said Dr. Erica Molitor Kirsch, a pediatric ICU physician, who treated Grace.
Grace’s mother, Yanira Silva, said her daughter — who already suffered from asthma — developed flulike symptoms at the end of September.
“She started with a headache, and I gave her medication for that. A couple hours later, she started with a high fever,” she said. With her daughter’s fever at 102, Silva took her to a small hospital at Fort Riley, Kan. At the time, her husband, Sgt. Emilio Silva, was in Baghdad. Silva said Grace was treated for bronchitis, and then sent home.
Despite taking medication religiously, she went downhill fast: her lungs filled with fluid, her breathing became troubled, her toes and fingers went cold, her temperature dangerously high.
At this point, Yanira Silva said Grace’s temperature had spiked yet again. “Grace had a very, very high fever. 104.4. I gave her medication.”
After yet another trip to the emergency room, her mother demanded, and the hospital agreed to have Grace transferred to a bigger facility, Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., 130 miles away.
The hospital where Grace was initially treated said in a statement yesterday that she did not show her more severe symptoms until her very last visit there.
Prayers Around the Clock
That night, a Medevac helicopter made the emergency trip. A respiratory test confirmed the diagnosis that doctors suspected: H1N1.
“She has severe pneumonia. She has an underlying problem with asthma so that makes her a little more susceptible to the more severe disease,” said Dr. Christopher Harrison, director of the Infectious Disease Laboratory at Children’s Mercy.
Mother Prays for Recovery
For the last two weeks, Grace’s mother has stayed at her bedside, nearly around the clock, praying for her recovery, with the hospital chaplain and her daughter’s nurse, Angela.
Last week, the Army granted Grace’s father leave from the war in Iraq to join the battle his daughter faced in Missouri.
“That’s the worst feeling that you can feel,” he said. “Since I was there, I’ve never felt so scared about anything.”
Grace’s 8-year-old twin sister Faithsy, was also infected, but did not get seriously ill. Most of the children in intensive care have underlying medical problems and exhibit severe symptoms.
“If you have anything that makes you think that you’ve got pneumonia,” said Harrison. “So, if you start breathing faster than usual, you can’t get your breath, a cough that won’t stop. ... And children can look anxious when they’re anxious about their breathing. That’s something you need to go in and see about right away.”
‘Keep a Close Eye on Your Children’
Across the country, emergency rooms and ICU’s are already inundated.
“Currently we may have up to six patients in our 16 bed ICU,” said Natale. “My fear is that most of my units beds will be filled with H1N1 patients.”
After his near death experience, Benjamin’s prognosis is good. His mother said she’s learned a valuable lesson along the way.
“Please do not think that this can’t happen to your child,” she said. “Keep a close eye on your children. When they have a cold, when they have a temperature, please keep a closer eye on them. If I was not keeping a closer eye on Benjamin, he would be dead right now.”
Grace is getting better, too — fighting those tubes, squeezing her mother’s hand and trying to breathe on her own. For now, these children are winning the battle that is overcoming so many, who are so young.
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/SwineFluNews/swine-flu-stories-young-victims-h1n1/story?id=8827490
Woman dies from H1N1 - KS
Last Update: 4:31 pm
The first H1N1 flu death in a Kansan with no serious prior medical problems was reported Wednesday by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
The death, which occurred in a 50-year-old woman from the Kansas City area, is the seventh in the state to be confirmed as due to the pandemic virus. It came after more than a week of hospitalization. Laboratory testing confirmed that the woman had the H1N1 virus on October 5, and her death was reported to KDHE yesterday afternoon.
“The death being reported today reminds us of the importance of taking this virus very seriously,” Dr. Eberhart-Phillips said. “The H1N1 vaccine has started arriving in the state and it is important for Kansans to know that this is a safe and effective tool we have for fighting this virus. While supplies of the vaccine are very limited at this time, we will soon have sufficient quantities to starting vaccinating larger groups and I encourage Kansans to stay informed.”
The pandemic H1N1 virus is causing widespread illness throughout Kansas and the United States. Visits to healthcare providers for influenza-like illness have been increasing in most regions of Kansas as well as throughout the United States over the past few weeks and are substantially higher than what is typically seen at this time of year.
http://www.ksnt.com/news/local/story/Woman-dies-from-H1N1/jkt28REVCkCtksA6nTdnoQ.cspx
Pregnant Woman’s Bout With H1N1 - PA
PHILADELPHIA (KDKA) Baby Liam is two months old and just now bonding with his mom.
“I just want to hold him close to me all the time,” Karin McHugh said, who is celebrating a happy homecoming in Collingswood, N.J., but it was close to being a funeral for the 29-year-old.
“I said to my husband ‘if I don’t make it out of this, I’m sorry if I wasn’t a good wife,’” said McHugh.
That was the last thing she remembers from July. She was nine months pregnant, developed flu like symptoms and had trouble breathing. The baby was delivered in an emergency c-section. He was fine and weighed six pounds, 10 ounces. Then McHugh started crashing.
“There were several times that she was very close to death,” Dr. Scott Halpern said, an Intensive Care Specialist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
McHugh was flown from a small South Jersey hospital to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She had one of the worst cases of H1N1 swine flu doctors have seen. Her lungs were incapacitated, no oxygen, no life.
“Karin did die and was resuscitated and brought back, that happened twice in one night,” Dr. Halpern said.
Her husband Brian McHugh was desperate.
“I really put her in God’s hands. I didn’t know where else to go. They were doing everything they could,” Brian McHugh said.
She was on a ventilator, drugs, and nothing was working. Karin McHugh’s organs were shutting down. In desperation, the HUP team turned to heart lung bypass.
Dr. Halpern says it’s unheard of to have a machine circulating oxygenated blood, for almost a month.
“It undoubtedly saved her life,” Dr. Halpern said.
“I guess it just wasn’t my time. I mean, I wasn’t ready to leave this earth,” Karin McHugh said.
She beat the odds and finally made it home still bandaged and bruised from tubes in her neck that kept her alive, reunited with her family.
“It’s just hard. I missed, I got jipped. I missed the first two months of his life,” Karin McHugh said.
Doctors now know this strain of swine flu is especially dangerous for pregnant woman. Their only protection is the H1N1 vaccine. Too late for Karin McHugh, but she says pregnant woman should do anything they can to guard against swine flu.
“It was just a downward spiral. I mean, I almost didn’t make it,” Karin McHugh said.
The revolutionary treatment Karin McHugh received was being researched, and it can save other people with the most severe cases of H1N1 swine flu, according to a new study.
http://kdka.com/health/karin.mchugh.h1n1.2.1247906.html
3 More Deaths - NM
The Department of Health is reporting three novel H1N1-related deaths in the last week in New Mexico. The latest deaths are a 47-year-old female from Chaves County who had no known chronic health conditions, a 59-year-old male from San Juan County who had chronic health conditions that put him at higher risk, and a 63-year-old male whose county of residence has not yet been determined who had chronic health conditions that put him at higher risk.
The other H1N1-related deaths are as follows:
a 45-year-old female from Sierra County with end stage liver disease, a 52-year-old female from Bernalillo County with chronic pulmonary disease, a 48-year-old female from McKinley County with asthma and diabetes, a 21-year-old female from Los Alamos County without chronic medical conditions, and a 58-year-old male from Bernalillo County with chronic conditions that put him at risk for serious complications from the flu, a 5-year-old female from Sandoval County with no chronic health conditions, a female infant from Roosevelt with no chronic health conditions, a 17-year-old female from Chaves County with no chronic health conditions, and a 28-year-old male from Lea County who did not have any known chronic health conditions.
http://nmhealth.org/H1N1/ILI/ILI_deaths.shtml
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