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**Treyfish** · September 10, 2009, 04:39 PM

Re: The dead children thread

Autopsy to be performed on Swine Flu victim

Posted: Sep 10, 2009 5:27 PM EDT
MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - A spokesperson for the family of a Mid-South student who died from the Swine Flu said a medical examiner will perform an autopsy on the boy.
[ATTACH]6355[/ATTACH]

Bishop Brandon Porter said the death of Michael Howse has not only been tough on the Howse family, but also on his entire congregation. Thursday, he delivered a statement from Howse's parents.
"On behalf of Michael and Veda House, the parents of Michael Howse Junior, we'd like to thank you for your warm thoughts, heartfelt prayers, and overwhelming support during this time," he said.
Family and friends are mourning the loss of Howse, an 8th grader at White Station Middle School, who died from the Swine Flu, also known as H1N1. Howse was a starting running back and straight A student. Porter said he'd known Howse ever since he was small.
"Mike was a Sunday school attendee," he said. "He'll always come up and speak to you. I've seen him from a little boy so I've seen him get taller than me."
Howse's death came as a shock to many, and Porter said he seemed to have no other medical conditions.
"Mike was very healthy," he said. "With all the sports and activities he's involved in as well as his academic achievements. They're allowing for an autopsy and research to show what else was going on, if anything at all."
Now Porter and his congregation are joining forces with Howse's family to help them get through such a difficult time.
"He was a tremendous young man, and comes from just a great family," Porter said. "At large he'll be sorely missed. He's certainly an icon as it relates to a young teenager."
Visitation for Michael Howse will be from 4:00pm to 6:30pm Friday at NJ Ford and Sons Funeral Home. The funeral will be at 2pm Saturday at Greater Community Temple COGIC on Winchester Road.

http://www.wmctv.com/global/story.asp?s=11109885

**Treyfish** · September 10, 2009, 04:41 PM

Re: The dead children thread

Deaths at two universities linked to H1N1 Influenza

Scot

Issue date: 9/10/09 Section: News

Many of the articles here and elsewhere about H1N1 have noted that relatively few of the thousands of students with H1N1 or its symptoms have required hospitalization and that there have been no student deaths. Sadly, the latter statement is no longer true.

Andrew Salter, a freshman at Troy University in Troy, Ala., died Friday, Sept. 4. News reports said he had been treated for flu-like symptoms believed to be H1N1 and had been thought to be on the way to recovery. But apparently in a weakened state from the H1N1, he contracted pneumonia and was admitted to a hospital, where he died. Also, a student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha died from H1N1 complications last month, but she had yet to arrive on campus for the fall semester when she died, The Omaha World-Herald reported. This student had significant and serious health problems before contracting H1N1, the newspaper said.
"SNIP"http://media.www.themuleskinner.com/...-3768350.shtml

**Treyfish** · September 10, 2009, 04:53 PM

Re: The dead children thread

Sixth H1N1 Flu Death In Duval County

9-Month-Old Boy Latest Victim

POSTED: Wednesday, September 9, 2009
UPDATED: 3:44 pm EDT September 9, 2009

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Duval County Health Department confirmed the sixth H1N1 flu related death on Wednesday.
The latest victim is a 9-month-old boy who died last Thursday. Young children are among those at highest risk for contracting the disease.
To date, there have been 77 laboratory-confirmed H1N1 swine flu deaths in Florida. ...

http://www.news4jax.com/health/20813956/detail.html

**Jmom** · September 10, 2009, 05:05 PM

Re: The dead children thread

In case you're interested, I have been keeping a tally of children who have died since schools opened (first - second week of August in the SE)

Notice that "underlying conditions" is only mentioned in a few of these cases.

No one is telling parents that healthy kids are dying. No one is shutting the schools. When exactly did our precious little ones become expendible????

8/18 14 year old in Austin, Texas (coinfected with staph )
8/18? Child under 2 in Montgomery, AL
8/20 12 year old in Palm Beach County, FL (died in Nevada)
8/20 7 or 8 year old in Ellijay, GA (underlying condition?)
8/? suspected - 15 year old Wesley Husband in Warren County
8/25 14 year old Victor Gene Delgado in Sonoma Cty, CA
8/27 Child unknown age in Hamilton, Co., TN (don't know where he/she is from)
8/27 13 year old Heidi Peterson in Hancock Co., MS -
8/27 17 year old F 17 in Riverside County, CA
8/31 11 year old Alex Garcia in Scottsboro, AL (played soccer on Saturday, died Monday)
8/31 12 year old John McCormick in Midlands, SC (had Cerebral Palsy)
9/2 5 year old Max Gomez in Davidson County, TN (died within TWO days of feeling sick)
9/3 6 year old in Southwest Kansas
9/4 5 year old, HI
9/4 0-4 year old, UT
9/5 19 year old in Baton Rouge, LA
9/5 Infant, AK
9/5 10 year old in Fairbanks, AK (died within 36 hours of feeling sick - bacterial infection)
9/6 suspected - 8 year old in Wayne County, NC
9/7 13 year old Michael Howse in Memphis, TN (played middle school football, athletic, healthy)
9/8 18 year old Andrew Salter, Troy University student, Vally, AL (pneumonia)
9/9 9 month old baby in Duval, FL
9/9 12 year old girl in New Orleans, LA
9/9 Fort Lauderdale - 8 month old baby
9/10 6 year old in Hot Springs, AR

This list is likely not complete, and I don't make claims to the accuracy of all the info, I have been compiling it from news stories

**Treyfish** · September 10, 2009, 05:12 PM

Re: The dead children thread

Why thank you, Jmom, For that list. It is quite disturbing to see so many deaths so far and with school open, the many more to follow.

**Cairelle RN** · September 10, 2009, 05:13 PM

Re: The dead children thread

I know it's necessary, and hopefully the tally will make someone other than us take notice, but I hate that this thread even exists.

**Treyfish** · September 10, 2009, 05:16 PM

Re: The dead children thread

Northshore, N.O. Girls Die From H1N1 Virus

Staff reporter
September 9, 2009

BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals today confirmed that two additional residents of the state have died from complications related to the 2009 H1N1 flu, bringing the total of H1N1-related deaths in the state to six. One individual was a female child (12 years old or younger) from DHH health region 1 (the Greater New Orleans area) and one individual was a female young adult from DHH health region 9, the region including St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes.

The department will not release other personal details about the individuals to protect the privacy of the individuals and their families.

Levine added, "Any loss of life is tragic, but none more so than the loss of a young person...

http://www.abc26.com/news/local/wgno...tory?track=rss

**Cairelle RN** · September 10, 2009, 05:21 PM

Re: The dead children thread

That's MY stomping ground.

Poor babies.

**Treyfish** · September 10, 2009, 05:24 PM

Re: The dead children thread

I don't like it either, and it can't be ignored. We must do more to prevent these deaths. Time to turn up the heat.

**Treyfish** · September 10, 2009, 05:35 PM

Re: The dead children thread

Fairbanks boy's death one of 43 child swine flu deaths in U.S.

Published Wednesday, September 9, 2009

FAIRBANKS — A 10-year-old student who died after contracting swine flu was one of 43 such cases among children in the United States this year, according to a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Doctors last weekend confirmed the boy, a Hunter Elementary School student, had swine flu prior to his death Friday night at an Anchorage hospital.
The CDC has received 111 reports of influenza-associated pediatric deaths in the United States since Sept. 28, David Daigle, a spokesman for the center, said Tuesday. Of those, almost 40 percent were because of swine (H1N1) flu, Daigle said.
Swine flu, which world health officials labeled a global pandemic earlier this year, differs from more common seasonal influenza partly because the most severe cases and deaths occur in people under age 50. The number of flu-associated deaths among children has worried the CDC, Daigle said.
“Typically, we have seen between 50 and 100 per year,” Daigle, referring to pediatric flu deaths in the United States, wrote in an e-mail to the Daily News-Miner.
A handful of parents reported to the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District that they were keeping their children home Tuesday because of the boy’s death, school district spokesman Bill Bailey said.
It was unclear Tuesday evening the degree to which parents’ concern about swine flu might have contributed to absences. Bailey said fewer children, generally speaking, are attending school this year. The 92 percent attendance rate through the first three weeks is more than two percentage points lower than last fall. That figure excluded Tuesday’s attendance numbers, which won’t be available until today, he said.
Some parents called the district with concerns, asking how school officials are controlling the spread of swine flu, Bailey said.
School officials are working with state education and health specialists to monitor the flu and “make the best decisions about student health and safety,” Superintendent Nancy Wagner said in a message through Bailey.
The Hunter student was the second of three swine flu-related deaths reported in Alaska. State doctors late Tuesday reported the third, a woman from Seward, was admitted to Providence hospital in Anchorage in mid-August and died Aug. 28 “from a combination of respiratory and other pre-existing medical conditions,” according to a state news release.
Another child from Fairbanks also spent part of last weekend in an Anchorage hospital with swine flu.
Clay Butcher, a spokesman for the state Department of Health and Social Services, said he heard from the hospital that the second child is recovering and was “in stable condition” as of Tuesday afternoon.
Bailey said Wagner is sending letters to parents outlining the district’s path in “following the guidance of health officials” to limit the spread of swine flu in schools. He asked parents to keep their contact information with the district up to date — 2,000 e-mails to parents during a communication last week were returned as undeliverable because of incorrect addresses.

http://newsminer.com/news/2009/sep/0...ne-flu-deaths/

**Treyfish** · September 10, 2009, 05:44 PM

Re: The dead children thread

INFLUENZA PANDEMIC (H1N1) 2009 (43): PEDIATRIC QUESTIONS
Date: Wed 9 Sep 2009From: Amar HSS <amarhss@gmail.com>[The following comments have been received from Dr Amar-Singh HSS, Consultant Community Paediatrician & Head Paediatric Department, Ipoh General Hospital, Malaysia, relating to the content of the above ProMED-mail post. Readers able to respond to Dr. Amar-Singh should communicate with him directly and not ProMED-mail. - Mod.CP]Re: Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (39): pediatric deaths 20090904.3118-----------------

-I am wondering if I could highlight and express some opinion on the data published on 36 pediatric deaths in the MMWR Weekly, Fri 4 Sep 2009 / 58(34);941-947 [reproduced in ProMED-mail post "Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (39): pediatric deaths 20090904.3118"].

I am doing this as many of us are uncomfortable with the decisions and recommendations to give oseltamivir to all children under 5 years with ILI [influenza-like illness].
The argument:1. Data from MMWR on the 36 deaths: Only 8 out of 36 deaths were aged 5 years or below. If we compare co-morbids in those aged 5 years or below and those above 5 years, 4/8 (50 percent) were in those aged 5 years or below, and 22/28 (78.6 percent) in those aged above 5 years.

Hence, these data do not support one of the conclusions that "children aged less than 5 years or with certain chronic medical conditions are at increased risk for complications and death from H1N1;" certain chronic medical conditions yes, but not under 5 years of age.

2. The data suggest the limited value of treatment in well children with ILI. See Neuraminidase inhibitors for treatment and prophylaxis of influenza in children: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Matthew Shun-Shin, et al. BMJ 2009;339:b3172.3.

There is concern about toxicity of oseltamivir (See: Oseltamivir adherence and side effects among children in three London schools affected by influenza A(H1N1)v, May 2009, and in an internet-based cross-sectional survey. A Kitching, et al. Eurosurveillance, Volume 14, Issue 30, 30 July 2009 and other studies in rats.

4. Finally, lots of children under 5 yrs will get an URTI (upper respiratory tract infection) -- defined as ILI under current circumstances -- so we will definitely be treating many children.Comments would be appreciated.[Separately, Dr. Amar-Singh has sent the following request.

Again, ProMED-mail suggests that readers able to respond should communicate directly with Dr. Amar-Singh. - Mod.CP]:

I [would like to post the following problem] on ProMED-mail for discussion: We are in the phase of the epidemic in which we are seeing children come back with a 2nd ILI, and we are not sure how to manage them.

Possible presentations of child with 2nd ILI,

previously:

1. Child admitted with ILI treated with oseltamivir. PCR positive for H1N1

2. Child admitted with ILI treated with oseltamivir. PCR negative for H1N13. Child seen with ILI in OPD/A&E (Out patients/Accidents & Emergency) treated with oseltamivir. No PCR but Rapid Kit Inf A positive.

4. Child seen with ILI in OPD/A&E not treated with oseltamivir. No PCR but Rapid Kit Inf A negative.

5. Child seen with ILI in OPD/A&E treated with oseltamivir. No PCR/Rapid kit test.

6. Child seen with ILI in OPD/A&E not treated with oseltamivir. No PCR/Rapid kit test.

Possibilities interpretations:
1. Nosocomial infection (bacterial) from hospital stay
2. Another viral agent
3. Re-infected with same H1N1 strain (unlikely)
4. Infected with variant H1N1 strainI know we will have to use clinical judgment, but it can be tough. We have had children coming back with viral pneumonias (2nd episode within 4 weeks).If they were positive for H1N1 before, it is easier as there is no need to give oseltamivir, but for the other, how many courses of oseltamivir are we going to give?--Dr Amar-Singh HSSConsultant Community Paediatrician & HeadPaediatric DepartmentIpoh General HospitalMalaysia<amarhss@gmail.com>[see also:Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (39): pediatric deaths 20090904.3118].................................................http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f?p=2400:1001:763762791517303::NO::F2400_P1001_BAC K_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,79164

**cmmc** · September 10, 2009, 06:13 PM

Re: The dead children thread

Kick butt Treyfish -

Totals from Jmoms list

Unknown - 1
0-4 - 5
5-12 -11
13-18 - 7
19 and up - 1

**Pathfinder** · September 10, 2009, 06:23 PM

Re: The dead children thread

Swine flu confirmed in Hancock Co. student's death

Associated Press - August 31, 2009 6:44 PM ET

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (AP) - The coroner is confirming that swine flu killed a Hancock County Middle School student last Thursday.

Hancock County Coroner Norma Stiglet told WLOX-TV news Monday that autopsy results confirmed the cause of death for 13-year-old Heidi Ann Peterson of Kiln.

In central Mississippi, Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey said Monday that preliminary swine flu test results from the state Department of Health were negative for Wesley Husband, a 15-year-old Warren Central High student who died Thursday.

Huskey said further testing will be conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Huskey said he didn't have a cause of death for the student.

Husband died after being out of school several days. He was treated in an emergency room Tuesday and released.

**tesseract** · September 10, 2009, 06:51 PM

Re: The dead children thread

Treyfish thanks for this thread - I was thinking of starting one myself because the numbers seem to be increasing so fast.

Jmom - thanks for that list. Of note - you listed deaths going back since 8/18 - I count 25 on that list....but over half are in just the last 7 days!!

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