Indiana:
Osceola-area tot with H1N1 is out of hospital, but parents warn flu is no ‘joke’
By MARY KATE MALONE
Tribune Staff Writer
http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20091013/News01/910139983/1129/News
As their 19-month-old son became feverish and fussy on a recent Friday, Chad and Britton Odle never imagined he might have swine flu.
But less than 24 hours later, Hudson Odle was lying in a hospital bed, his little face covered by a breathing mask as a doctor told the Odles their son was suffering from H1N1, a virus that has killed more than 600 Americans since it was first identified last April.
“When the doctor told me that, I was like, ‘Really?’ It was shocking to me because it came on so quick,” Chad Odle said.
Hudson was released a day later, but now the Odles, who live in the Osceola area, are concerned his twin sister, Remi, might share a similar fate.
On Monday, she developed a low-grade fever and a raspy throat. “I’m just praying she doesn’t end up in the hospital,” said Britton Odle, sitting at her kitchen table with Remi’s barely eaten dinner.
“I’m hoping she is better by tomorrow.”
The Odles’ other two children, Braxton, 6, and Chesney, 3, have not shown any symptoms, she said.
Health officials said last week that 76 children have died of swine flu, including 19 last week. It has proven to be unusually dangerous for the young, officials have said.
The trouble, as the Odles found, is detecting symptoms early on.
Hudson Odle’s symptoms were minor at first and difficult to detect as they worsened, his parents said.
Britton did not realize Hudson was struggling to breathe until she gave him a bath and noticed his chest was concave.
“He had good color, and was not visibly struggling. When they’re so little, they can’t tell you, ‘I’m achy,’ or ‘I can’t get enough air,’” she said.
“I’m not the type of parent to let symptoms go ... but there were no symptoms,” she said.
When she saw her son’s chest caving inward, she panicked.
She and Chad took Hudson to the emergency room, where he was admitted and given breathing treatments.
“I sat on the floor of our van the whole way to the hospital, just watching him to make sure he didn’t turn blue and stop breathing,” Britton said.
Britton, a South Bend police officer, was prepared to perform CPR on her son if necessary.
Hudson was released from Memorial Hospital the following day.
And on Monday, the toddler was gobbling up his dinner and playing with his siblings. But his twin sister was fussy and clinging to her mom.
The Odles are watching Remi very closely, she said, and barely sleeping as a result.
Their family doctor prescribed antibiotics for Remi on Monday, but Remi’s condition had not noticeably improved by evening.
Meanwhile, the Odles are telling friends of young children to be watchful if their children exhibit even the smallest flulike symptom.
“(H1N1) is here,” Chad Odle said. “It’s not a joke, and it hits pretty quick.”
Staff writer Mary Kate Malone:
mmalone@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6337
Chicago’s first H1N1 outbreak hit some communities harder than others
Alden K. Loury on 10.13.09
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-muckrakers/2009/10/chicagos-first-h1n1-outbreak-hit-some-communities-harder-than-others.html
As Chicagoans gear up for the flu season and another battle with the H1N1 virus, the city’s first outbreak this past spring shows that some parts of the city could be more vulnerable than others.
There were 1,557 laboratory-confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus in Chicago from April to July, according to an August report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Chicago Department of Public Health reported the city’s first cases of H1N1, often referred to as the swine flu, on April 28. Within a week, Rogers Park in the northeastern corner of the city and Hedgewisch in the city’s southeastern corner reported the highest rates of infection—at least 30 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the CDC report. The infections spread fast, the report’s authors noted. “By May 23, the fifth week of the outbreak, cases had been reported in 68 of Chicago’s 77 community areas.” The report included the graphic below. The darkest areas reflect the highest rates of infection based on laboratory-confirmed cases per 100,000 residents.
As the graphic shows, H1N1 hit hardest in three general parts of the city, the far North Side, the Southeast Side and in the central part of the city stretching from the Near South Side along the lake to the North Lawndale community on the West Side.