5 Who Died Had Flu-Like Symptoms

Washington Post ^ | Saturday, February 22, 2003 | By Michael D. Shear and Maria Glod

[Pro-Bush]

RICHMOND, Feb. 21 -- Five children who died in southeast Virginia in the past week had no contact with each other and did not attend the same schools or take similar medicines, according to state health officials, who also dismissed bioterrorism as a cause of the mysterious deaths.

The five boys and girls -- from Richmond, Hampton, Virginia Beach, and Portsmouth -- had one thing in common before their unexpected deaths: an apparent viral infection that caused flu-like symptoms, including sore throat, wheezing, coughing, ear infections, and low-grade fevers

[William McKinley]

Why is nothing coincidental in Southeast Virginia?

I could understand that comment if it was Northeast Virginia...

[happygrl]

See my post #2.

Southeast Virgina is a center of military posts and bases.

[Jim Noble]

>>if some sort of freakish new flu were to appear, can't they make a vaccine like they do every year of the most popular ones and vaccinate people?<<

No, because it spreads too fast. It takes 6-7 months to change the vaccine.

[happygrl]

This is my fear.

Public health experts have said that another deadly flu epidemic like the Spanish Flu of 1918 is their worst nightmare, as it would be air-borne.

No reason that this couldn't be a form of manufactured flu.

[freeper12]

It is very scary to me that doctors are so quick to absolutely rule out bio-terror...which tells me that when we are attacked that way, the disease is going to spread like wild-fire with all the doctors heads stuck in the sand unable to figure out what they are looking at.

My wife is a nurse, my mother-in-law, 3 sisters in-laws are all nurses...the horror stories I hear about grossly incompetenet doctors, on a daily basis, makes me really nervous about the average doctor being able to diagnose anything out of the ordinary...

[SSN558]

"Ricin-related symptoms include fever and nausea, which progresses to severe abdominal pains and fits. Victims die from multiple organ failure and there is no known antidote or vaccine."

There is a cure for Ricin poisening. You remove the source of the poisen and become healthy again. Ricin is a toxin derived from the castor plant. It is not a diease.

The World War I pilots usually looked like and felt like death after several months of flying. It was ricin build up in thier blood from breathing the burning castor oil that was used to lubricate their engines. They were actually smoking ricin. The silk scarves wrapped around their faces were to filter out some of the smoke.

[yankeedog]

Here is a link to a similar story. (And the story in case the link doesn't work.)

http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0302/06/d01-78436.htm

Thursday, February 6, 2003


No links found in children's fatalities

Death of 2 kids still a mystery; 3rd had flu, died of encephalitis

By Amy Lee / The Detroit News

BLOOMFIELD HILLS -- The death of a 5-year-old Bloomfield Hills girl from flu complications is unrelated to two mysterious deaths of Washtenaw County children, officials said Wednesday.

Alana Yaksich, a kindergartner at Pine Lake Elementary School, died Monday of encephalitis, a brain inflammation that's a rare flu complication.

In Washtenaw County, an autopsy report Wednesday on 14-year-old David Tripp, who died Jan. 25, could not establish a cause of death. Tripp of Ypsilanti lost consciousness at home after complaining of aches, a sore throat and an upset stomach. He died shortly afterward.

Meghan Spieles, a 6-year-old Ann Arbor Township resident, died Friday.

Health officials expect to complete Meghan's autopsy in the next day or so, said Dr. Stan Reedy, medical director at the Washtenaw County Department of Public Health.

"In a way, perhaps, (Alana's) parents are a little more fortunate because they know what caused the death, where the other parents are still unaware of what symptoms caused their child's death," said Jennifer Woliung, community relations director for the Bloomfield Hills School District.

Seven-year-old Yazzmin Zama of Rochester Hills also died recently of a genetic blood disease with complications from pneumonia, officials said.

Michigan health officials have alerted the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta of the unexplained deaths, which is routine in such cases, said Geralyn Lasher of the Michigan Department of Community Health.

The state is helping Washtenaw County health officials determine what killed David and Meghan, Lasher said. But Reedy said David Tripp's death may remain a mystery.

"There's always a small percentage where the cause of death remains unknown," he said.

In 2002, 92 U.S. children who exhibited flu-like symptoms died without health officials ever determining a cause of death, CDC spokeswoman Katie Hoskins said.


You can reach Amy Lee at (248) 647-8605 or alee@detnews.com.

[verity]

Paranoia alert!

[raybbr]

Do you live in the Northeast? We have the same thing around here. My wife and I had it and many of my co-workers did too. BTW, do you have aching joints as a result of this? My wife and I, several others, have reported sore knees, elbows and backs.

[opbuzz]

Last month a Marine recruit died and all training was halted at boot camp in San Diego. There has also been outbreaks in Texas. These were staph infections which have symptoms similar to flu.

[MadIvan]

Hmm.

Don't fear the Reaper.

Regards, Ivan

[freeper12]

>>reported sore knees, elbows and backs.


Maybe from shoveling too much snow!

[freeper12]

>>Paranoia alert!


Just becuase you are not paranoid, doesn't mean people are not trying to kill you...

[null and void]

It is very scary to me that doctors are so quick to absolutely rule out bio-terror.

The Staten Island explosion isn't terrorism, either I know this because they told us so. I think, this time, they waited long enough for all the debris to fall before they made the anouncement...

[aristeides]

What's the scuttlebutt in the medical community down your way?

[TheLurkerX]

I know what you mean. I've been fighting it off and on since before Christmas. Normally, I might get sick 1 or 2 days in the winter with the flu du jour, but this crap seems to hang out in your system, and as soon as you get stressed or don't get enough sleep, it tries to knock you down again.

[discostu]

"an apparent viral infection that caused flu-like symptoms"

You mean... THE FLU.

The flu has been beating the hell out of us this year, school on the east side of Tucson (a place that generally avoids the flu, too warm to get sick) have been reporting absenteeism percentages in the 40s.

You're right, nothing coincidental, it's flu season and kids are getting the flu. That's how you know it's flu season.

[who knows what evil?]

My wife is a nurse, my mother-in-law, 3 sisters in-laws are all nurses...the horror stories I hear about grossly incompetenet doctors, on a daily basis, makes me really nervous about the average doctor being able to diagnose anything out of the ordinary...

Doctors/medical 'error' are the #3 killers of Americans, after cancer and heart disease...plan accordingly.

[TheLurkerX]

That's true. The flu vaccine they prepare each year is really a guesstimate of what flu will be prevalent that year. Sometimes they pick the wrong strain, and the vaccine is ineffective.