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  • Sudden deaths and influenza

    Into Italian subforum we are collecting a number of cases of 'sudden death', cases that have not received a full diagnosis or remained unexplained at the time of press attention. These 'sudden deaths' happened in the last two months. My suspect is that behind these unexplained fatalities there could be the influenza H1N1 2009. This because the overall number of cases seems to be elevated than the average figures expected for this kind of condition (the sudden death). In Italy, under the 35 year old class of age, there are in average around 200 cases per year of 'sudden death'. This year, only for the period comprised between the second half of January and the start of February I have had counted at least eleven of these cases. Since some of the usual symptoms may be overlooked or because an atypical presentation of the illness - the final diagnosis could have been mislabelled as heart failure, fulminant pneumonia o severe encephalitis. In the past pandemics, similar misdiagnosis happened, for example in the 1957 pandemic. It would be interesting to see if in all other countries covered by FluTrackers.com contributors a similar pattern of unexplained illness has materialized during the winter epidemic season. Further information will be welcomed.

  • #2
    Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

    There were two tragic cases in the UK that caught my attention - a young woman (21-yo Katie Roach) who was a dance instructor and incredibly fit who died within four days of first having symptoms. Then there was the case of Craig Sweaton, a 27-yo body builder and fitness instructor who hadn't been sick "a day in his life" who died 3-4 days after onset.

    With all the studies out there on the importance of Vitamin D in moderating the immune response, I just cannot understand why public health officials are not urging doctors to recommend testing their patients for Vitamin D deficiency and urging them to take supplements as needed.

    Also, has any research been done regarding Vitamin D levels in patients who contract severe cases or who have died and seen any correlation?
    "I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." - Mother Teresa of Calcutta

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

      I have a Malaysian doctors blog I sometimes read. He has recently moved to Melbourne but his family is still in Malaysia.

      ust before I decided to call it a night, I checked my Facebook one last time to see if there were any messages. There was one from my wife:

      ?Hubby, my brother has passed away?

      A short sentence with six short words that sent a shiver down my spine.

      My heart skipped a beat. I felt a cold shiver. The hair on the back of my neck stood erect. I felt as if some one has suddenly caught hold of my heart and was starting to squeeze the life out of it.

      I knew my wife was not one to joke about such things.

      I logged into Skype immediately and even before the video feed could connect, the audio told me that on the other end my wife and kids were crying tears of anguish!

      It was for real.

      Apparently, my brother-in-law, Ian, went to take a nap that afternoon and never woke up again. By the time his father went to wake him for dinner, his body was already cold.

      The next few days were a blur.

      We don?t know how he passed away and because a postmortem was not performed on his body, we will never know.
      Medicine is so much more than just diagnosis and treatment.
      "The only security we have is our ability to adapt."

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

        Man sing the last song
        Sudden death suspected heart attack

        The deceased Mrs. yellow as gold reached remain on the Paida husband, hoping to wake him.
        (18 Kuantan News), a billiard center managers choose to sing "Happy Here" song, burst suspected heart attack, fall to the ground, the Lantern, became the last of his life to celebrate a holiday!

        The victim was 61-year-old Chinese man, Zhang Yuliang

        He said that at first, I thought the dead "hair sheep hanging," the deceased had been clenched fist to open later and found the deceased has shown a black fingernails, I discovered that the deceased passed away
        Perhaps this only made the news because he was singing - but I don't know if you normally have black nails from a heart attack.
        "The only security we have is our ability to adapt."

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

          For my research I use keywords like 'sudden death' 'death autopsy'
          'Died young' 'dead baby'.
          I would appreciate it if you can do a search in your countries and report these deaths from December 2010

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

            Italian student died in Grenoble


            He created a lot of surprise and pain the news of the untimely and unexpected death of Desiree Ciapanna, 25, a student died in recent days in the French city of Grenoble, where he was studying. The girl, who grew up in the country of Gazzada, was found dead in his bed already, and death occurred during the night between 7 and 8 febbraio.Per the chief of police in Grenoble the girl "had been dead for about ten hours at the time of discovery, "and" on the body were not found signs of violence. " An autopsy has been conducted and the results have ruled out the use of drugs. The police in Grenoble has contacted the Italian authorities and the police have tracked down the family who reside in the district of Saint Ambrose in Varese. The parents, with his brother, are currently in France for the identification procedures. Most likely cause of death there is a sudden illness. Last night some friends of the family gathered to pray a rosary in his memory


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            • #7
              Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

              Lake Luzerne, New York



              Precious life, sudden death

              Family, friends, schoolmates recall kind-hearted girl who died of still-unknown reason

              By LEIGH HORNBECK Staff Writer

              Updated 12:17 p.m., Friday, February 18, 2011


              Hadley


              At work, Patricia Burns is surrounded by death and dying. As a nurse's assistant at a hospice, her job is to care for the sick. Now, she is grappling with the sudden death of her 15-year-old daughter, a loss made worse because there was no explanation for her passing.
              Christalin Canavan's death Dec. 27 is a medical mystery, unexplained by autopsy and toxicology. It was among the 1 to 2 percent of deaths each year that have no explanation.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

                Los Angeles, California

                By Lindsay William-Ross in News on <abbr class="published" title="2011-02-18T10:30:05-08:00">February 18, 2011 10:30 AM</abbr>
                County Officials Speak About Employee's Death at Her Desk


                Officials from Los Angeles County have finally issued a statement about the sudden death of Internal Services Department Rebecca Wells, who was discovered dead in a cubicle in Downey on Saturday morning.
                County officials say an autopsy on Wells is pending.


                http://laist.com/2011/02/18/county_o...out_employ.php

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

                  Palo Alto, California

                  Sudden Death Of Palo Alto Teacher Shocks School



                  Posted: 11:00 pm PST January 31, 2011

                  Updated: 9:49 am PST February 1, 2011


                  PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Students and staff at a Palo Alto elementary school received devastating news Monday when they learned a popular long-time teacher had died suddenly over the weekend.It appeared 43-year-old George Flath may have died from meningitis, a contagious disease that can kill in a matter of hours.A

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

                    Spanish to English translation

                    Sigue la última hora y la actualidad de España y el mundo, todas las noticias de deportes, economía, internacional, cultura, sociedad, tecnología, motor, televisión, gente y las firmas y la opinión más completa

                    Balearic recorded 8 cases of sudden death in young athletes in 5 years
                    07.02.2011 / 16:50 h
                    Palma, Feb. 7 (EFE) .- A study of the Cardiology Service of the Hospital are Ll?tzer indicates that in the past five years have occurred in the Balearic Islands at least 8 cases of sudden death in athletes under 35 years

                    A military Salamanca 30 years died of sudden death while doing sports
                    The incident took place around 09.15 am
                    02/03/1911 - 14:39 -IZQUIERDO FRANCISCO | SALAMANCA

                    A soldier of 30 years, RHM, died this morning in the city of Salamanca, in an episode of sudden death while doing sport with colleagues in the Plaza de Burgos, located near the headquarters of General Arroquia Engineers.
                    The incident took place around 09:15 hours in the morning. The military was playing a game of football with other colleagues in the barracks when he fell on the asphalt....



                    IT AFFECTS ONE IN 2,500 PEOPLE
                    UGR researchers determine the disease gene responsible for sudden cardiac death syndrome

                    DirectoryUnited StatesSpainRDResearch group

                    Photo: EP / PLANNERMEDIA
                    MADRID, 9 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

                    Scientists at the Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves and the University of Granada (UGR) have determined which called KCNH2 mutations are more frequent in the long QT syndrome (LQTS), a disorder of cardiac ion channels that affects approximately one in 2,500 people and can cause sudden death from ventricular arrhythmias.

                    This disease, experts say, often affects children and adolescents and sometimes confused with convulsions, mistakenly diagnosed as epilepsy.

                    However, until now, there are hundreds of mutations in twelve genes of sodium and potassium channels primarily. Thus, approximately 75 percent of the mutations described in LQTS are found in three genes, KCNQ1, the most frequent in other populations (potassium channel), KCNH2 (potassium channel), and SCN5A (sodium channel .)

                    To carry out this study, the researchers from Granada worked with nine patients with diagnostic criteria for long QT syndrome and 4 patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (patients recovered from cardiac arrest in which the diagnosis is not the disease responsible).

                    The scientists found mutations in seven patients with long QT syndrome in two patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation. 71.4 percent of the mutations were in KCNH2 and 28.6 percent in SCN5A. However, found no mutation in KCNQ1.

                    Only two of these mutations were previously described. In fact, one of them has been studied in vitro in a cell vector definitely showing their involvement in the etiology of the disease, which is a major contribution to this field of research, in the words of the authors of the study.

                    "The great interest of the genetic test in the approach to these diseases lies in the possibility of identifying affected individuals but showing little phenotypic expression, that is, that the disease is not so clearly manifested in the electrocardiogram or evidence of image ", they say.

                    FAMILY CARRIER SCREENING

                    In his opinion, this increases the chances of detecting a family carrying the same disease but with inconclusive results in other tests, what they believe is a major breakthrough, since these genetic diseases can be hereditary.

                    Despite the significance of these findings, the researchers caution that their work is "a preliminary and initial experience" in Spain to describe the genotypic profile of a small sample of patients. "Multicentre collaboration is needed for larger groups and conclusions extrapolated to the general population," they conclude.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

                      Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is only one of multiple cause of sudden deaths

                      Myocatditis is an important cause of sudden death and may be due to viral infections, as influenza




                      What causes sudden death in young adults and children?

                      A sudden death in a young person can be caused by:

                      *

                      heart disease, including cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease, myocarditis, genetic connective tissue disorders, mitral valve prolapse or conduction disease
                      *

                      medication-related causes, or
                      *

                      other causes.

                      We explain these below.

                      Heart disease
                      Heart disease is the most common cause of an unexpected sudden death in all age groups. In people aged 30 or over, the heart disease is usually due to 'furring' or 'blockages' of the blood vessels that supply the heart, i.e. coronary artery disease. But in younger people and in children the cause is much more often something other than coronary artery disease. The main causes are listed below. Some of these are inherited conditions. Some are detected easily while the person is alive, while others may go unnoticed until a tragic sudden death occurs.

                      Cardiomyopathies
                      These are abnormalities of the heart muscle and are usually inheritable.

                      *

                      Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) The walls of the heart become abnormally thick without any other cause being identifiable. Even if there is not any thickening, the arrangement of the heart's muscle cells (myocytes) are disorganised and disrupted.
                      *

                      Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) This condition causes the heart's muscle to become thin, because of an abnormal amount of fat and scar tissue in its wall. It affects mainly the right side of the heart.
                      *

                      Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) The left and right sides of the heart become enlarged and pump less efficiently, sometimes progressing to heart failure when the heart cannot meet the body's requirements.

                      Congenital heart disease
                      This group includes abnormalities of the structure of the heart which have been present since birth. Some of them may be inherited conditions. They include:

                      *

                      Valvular and more complex disease Abnormality of the heart's valves that can be associated with other abnormalities of the heart's structures such as 'a hole in the heart' (for example, Fallot's Tetralogy).
                      *

                      Anomalous coronary arteries When there is an abnormal arrangement of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle.

                      Myocarditis
                      Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart's muscle. It is usually due to a viral infection although it can be a complication of other medical conditions or exposure to drugs. It is not inheritable.


                      Genetic connective tissue disease
                      These are inheritable conditions affecting the structures that give support, strength and elasticity to the walls of the major blood vessels and, to a lesser extent, the heart muscle - for example Marfan's Syndrome and Ehler-Danlos. These can cause sudden death by arrhythmias or due to the sudden rupture of a major blood vessel such as the aorta (the major blood vessel that leaves the left side of the heart and supplies blood to the body).

                      Mitral valve prolapse
                      The mitral valve can sometimes be 'floppy' in appearance. This will show up on an echocardiogram (see cardiac tests). This is very common and affects around 1 or 2 in every 20 people. It is usually an asymptomatic and benign condition. In some rare cases mitral valve prolapse can be inherited in a family and can then be associated with arrhythmias and sudden death.

                      Conduction disease
                      This includes abnormalities in the way that the electrical impulses are conducted through the AV node due to disease (for example as in myotonic dystrophy), or because there are additional or 'accessory' pathways as in Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) Syndrome.

                      Medication-related causes
                      Prescription, over-the-counter and illegal drugs can have potentially dangerous but usually rare side effects, particularly if too much is taken (an overdose). These effects include arrhythmias (disturbance in the heart's rhythm) and sometimes a sudden death.

                      Other causes
                      Research suggests that sudden death may be caused infrequently by conditions such as fits (epilepsy) and severe asthma attacks. Pulmonary embolus (a clot to the lungs), has become better known recently due to its association with staying immobile for long periods during air travel. It can cause a sudden collapse and a rapid death (for more on this go to technical terms).

                      Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS)
                      In around 1 in every 20 cases of sudden cardiac death - up to 500 every year in the UK - no cause can be found, despite examination of the heart by an expert cardiac pathologist. The cause of death is therefore described as 'unascertainable'. This is called Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome, or SADS.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Sudden deaths and influenza



                        GLADSTONE - David John "Dud" Jolly, 52, of 518 Michigan Ave., Gladstone, passed away unexpectedly Sunday morning, Feb. 20, 2011, at the St. Francis Hospital in Escanaba from complications of pneumonia.
                        "I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." - Mother Teresa of Calcutta

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

                          Man died in swine flu outbreak


                          A MAN died after complaining of cold-like symptoms in one of the area’s first swine flu cases, an inquest heard.

                          Richard David Dooley, 24, was found dead in bed by his father in their Cae Coed Erw home, Bridgend, at around 8am on December 6, 2010, Aberdare Coroners’ Court heard.

                          Richard had gone to work as normal the day before, and went to bed at around 9.45pm saying he felt unwell. When his father Winston Dooley found him the next morning, he called an ambulance and Richard was pronounced dead.

                          Deputy Coroner Wayne Griffiths said Richard’s death was one of the first known swine flu cases in the area, and that a narrowing of his arteries meant he was not able to fight the virus in the way a man of his age normally could.

                          “The police were happy there were no suspicious circumstances or third party involvement, but that there had been a sudden onset of illness leading up to the day of his death.

                          “As a consequence of the circumstances tests were taken. This 24-year-old man had complained of a cough and a cold-like illness and a post-mortem examination revealed acute lung injury consistent with pneumonia.”

                          He added that this could be caused by various different things, but in this case had resulted from an influenza virus. Richard’s mother, present at the inquest, asked whether this meant swine flu, and Mr Griffiths confirmed it did.

                          He said: “There was a serious outbreak of this kind of substantial flu-like virus last year. This young man had a decreased ability to take in oxygen and had trouble breathing, and his heart was not as good as it should be.”

                          Mr Griffiths recorded a verdict of death by natural causes and extended his sympathies to Richard’s family.

                          He said: “This was a virus which attacked many people and, as a tragic consequence of what appeared to be another flu problem, Richard passed away.

                          “This was a direct cause of the epidemic, made worse by a narrowing in the arteries meaning he could not respond as well as he should.

                          “My condolences to you and the family. You must be devastated and I can’t say any more than that. I hope this brings some closure to you today.”

                          A MAN died after complaining of cold-like symptoms in one of the area’s first swine flu cases, an inquest heard.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

                            From late December until March 31 in this year I have monitored all deaths, reported by sources of information online in Italy, who had the feature to occur in unclear circumstances, those that in common parlance are called "natural dead' or that followed episodes of fever or simple discomfort, however that does not presage a fatal outcome.
                            For my research I used the google search engine and I used words like 'sudden death' 'death illness' 'death autopsy'
                            'Died young' 'death fever'.
                            I dwelt particularly on deaths involving young people, below the age of 35, which are also those that receive more attention from the media, but I tried to evaluate the deaths of people under the age of 65, with these characteristics.
                            I excluded the deaths that occurred in the course of sports or people suffering from significant diseases.
                            Also included are children under 1 year, whose sudden death occurred as a result of infectious episodes (ie, excluding cases of SIDS).

                            Many of these have been reported in italian section of the forum, some of them I recognized at different times and have not been published.


                            I believe that the number of deaths that I discovered greatly exceed what normally occurs during the winter seasons and that the spread of the new pandemic virus may be the source of this increase, in the absence of plausible alternative explanations, despite simplistic assessment that was given in Italy.
                            These deaths were numerous throughout all the period of time, but especially in the period from mid January to mid-February, coinciding with the moment of maximum circulation of the pandemic virus.

                            With regard to individuals under the age of 35 I found the following:

                            From 23 -12 to 13-01:

                            17

                            From 14-01 to 15-02

                            44

                            From 15-02 to 28-02

                            8

                            From 01-03 to 31-03

                            16

                            A total of 85 deaths in 99 days, an average of 0.85 per day
                            In the period between mid January and mid-February the average is 1.33.

                            I went to check how many deaths have occurred with these features in different months of the last and previous years, including winter, and I found no more than 6-7 per month.

                            With regard to individuals under the age of 65, only using the search key 'morte malore' you will be impressed by the large number of deaths that occurred during the period between mid January and mid February: I counted 125, a number that is 4 times higher than that recorded in other months of 2010.

                            I want to emphasize not the absolute number of deaths that I have found, that may not seem particularly high, but the 'significant increase, up to 5-6 times compared to previous periods.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Sudden deaths and influenza

                              UCSF Study Explores Stroke in Children


                              Last year a four-year-old arrived at UCSF Medical Center from the emergency room of another hospital with pneumonia ? and worse. Infected with H1N1 influenza virus, the child had developed a blood clot.

                              The clot had dislodged and gotten stuck in one of the big vessels supplying much of the oxygen-rich blood to the child's brain. It was a stroke, and if the UCSF medical team had not responded in time, the child could have died.

                              The lessons of that day are part of a new retrospective study by interventional neuroradiologist, James Tatum, MD, and colleagues at UCSF looking at the effectiveness of treating children having stokes with a technique known as "mechanical embolectomy," a standard treatment for stroke in adults.


                              A new retrospective study by interventional neuroradiologist, James Tatum, MD, and colleagues at UCSF look at the effectiveness of treating children having stokes with a technique known as "mechanical embolectomy," a standard treatment for stroke in adults.

                              Comment

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