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Source: http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories...8.shtml?v=1721
Harlem girl dies of H1N1 flu
By Donnie Fetter | Columbia County Bureau Chief
Monday, Oct. 12, 2009 5:13 p.m.
A Harlem girl died Saturday of the novel influenza A H1N1 virus.
Summer Rockefeller, 10, died of complications associated with the new virus while being treated at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, said Columbia County Coroner Vernon Collins.
No other locla H1N1 deaths have been offiically confirmed by officials.
Funeral services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday in the chapel of Chance and Hydrick Funeral Directors, 2502 Richmond Hill Road. Visitation will be at the funeral home from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Members of Harlem Baptist Church, including Columbia County school board member Roxanne Whitaker, will hold a spaghetti supper on Nov. 5 at the church to help Summer’s family defray some of her considerable medical expenses.
“Their medical bill, I’ve been told, is over $3 million,” Mrs. Whitaker said.
Summer was initially treated at the Medical College of Georgia Children’s Medical Center, but later was transferred to Egleston, Mr. Collins said.
At Egleston, Summer underwent four surgeries and spent two months in intensive care, Mrs. Whitaker said.
During that time, her parents, Brian and Elizabeth Anderson Rockefeller, remained in the Atlanta area with their daughter, said Mrs. Whitaker.
“They (Summer’s parents) have lost their home and everything else due to them losing their jobs and having no money to pay the bills,” Mrs. Whitaker said.
Euchee Creek Elementary Principal Wanda Golosky said Summer, a fifth-grader at the school, suffered multiple complications from her illness.
Though the school isn’t planning the upcoming fundraiser, teachers took up a collection for the family in the past and have been asked to participate in the spaghetti supper, Ms. Golosky said.
Though Summer died in Atlanta, new state protocols require that the coroner from the home county of the deceased child be notified. Mr. Collins said that an Egleston nurse informed him of the death last week but that he had not received a death summary sheet from the hospital as of this afternoon.
Mr. Collins said it was the first novel H1N1-related death his office is aware of.
Columbia County Health Department Nurse Manager Linda Graves said her district office, which is based in Augusta, would keep track of novel H1N1 fatalities in the area, but the office was closed today for the Columbus Day holiday.
First detected in the U.S. in April, novel H1N1 is a new influenza virus sometimes called “Swine Flu.” Since the outbreak began in Georgia last spring, there have been 489 hospitalizations and 23 deaths, as of Oct. 6, according to the Georgia Division of Public Health. At least two have been in children.
As of Oct. 3, 37 states are reporting widespread influenza cases, including Georgia and South Carolina, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the 19 pediatric flu-related deaths reported Sept. 27 through Oct. 3, 16 were confirmed novel H1N1 cases and other three were considered likely. At least 76 deaths in children are attributed to the new virus and 29 of those occurred since Aug. 30, the CDC reported.
Globally, as of Oct. 4, there have been about 375,000 confirmed novel H1N1 cases and more than 4,500 deaths from the virus reported to the World Health Organization.
Staff Writer Tom Corwin contributed to this story.
Reach Donnie Fetter at (70... or donnie.fetter@augustachronicle.com
Harlem girl dies of H1N1 flu
By Donnie Fetter | Columbia County Bureau Chief
Monday, Oct. 12, 2009 5:13 p.m.
A Harlem girl died Saturday of the novel influenza A H1N1 virus.
Summer Rockefeller, 10, died of complications associated with the new virus while being treated at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, said Columbia County Coroner Vernon Collins.
No other locla H1N1 deaths have been offiically confirmed by officials.
Funeral services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday in the chapel of Chance and Hydrick Funeral Directors, 2502 Richmond Hill Road. Visitation will be at the funeral home from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Members of Harlem Baptist Church, including Columbia County school board member Roxanne Whitaker, will hold a spaghetti supper on Nov. 5 at the church to help Summer’s family defray some of her considerable medical expenses.
“Their medical bill, I’ve been told, is over $3 million,” Mrs. Whitaker said.
Summer was initially treated at the Medical College of Georgia Children’s Medical Center, but later was transferred to Egleston, Mr. Collins said.
At Egleston, Summer underwent four surgeries and spent two months in intensive care, Mrs. Whitaker said.
During that time, her parents, Brian and Elizabeth Anderson Rockefeller, remained in the Atlanta area with their daughter, said Mrs. Whitaker.
“They (Summer’s parents) have lost their home and everything else due to them losing their jobs and having no money to pay the bills,” Mrs. Whitaker said.
Euchee Creek Elementary Principal Wanda Golosky said Summer, a fifth-grader at the school, suffered multiple complications from her illness.
Though the school isn’t planning the upcoming fundraiser, teachers took up a collection for the family in the past and have been asked to participate in the spaghetti supper, Ms. Golosky said.
Though Summer died in Atlanta, new state protocols require that the coroner from the home county of the deceased child be notified. Mr. Collins said that an Egleston nurse informed him of the death last week but that he had not received a death summary sheet from the hospital as of this afternoon.
Mr. Collins said it was the first novel H1N1-related death his office is aware of.
Columbia County Health Department Nurse Manager Linda Graves said her district office, which is based in Augusta, would keep track of novel H1N1 fatalities in the area, but the office was closed today for the Columbus Day holiday.
First detected in the U.S. in April, novel H1N1 is a new influenza virus sometimes called “Swine Flu.” Since the outbreak began in Georgia last spring, there have been 489 hospitalizations and 23 deaths, as of Oct. 6, according to the Georgia Division of Public Health. At least two have been in children.
As of Oct. 3, 37 states are reporting widespread influenza cases, including Georgia and South Carolina, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the 19 pediatric flu-related deaths reported Sept. 27 through Oct. 3, 16 were confirmed novel H1N1 cases and other three were considered likely. At least 76 deaths in children are attributed to the new virus and 29 of those occurred since Aug. 30, the CDC reported.
Globally, as of Oct. 4, there have been about 375,000 confirmed novel H1N1 cases and more than 4,500 deaths from the virus reported to the World Health Organization.
Staff Writer Tom Corwin contributed to this story.
Reach Donnie Fetter at (70... or donnie.fetter@augustachronicle.com
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