Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

[HenryN]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

The Niagara County Health Department has confirmed five more cases of swine flu, all involving school-aged children.

A sixth possible case involving a pre-schooler is also being investigated.

A day after officials in the Niagara Falls school district confirmed that two students at Gaskill Preparatory School had been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, county health officials said Friday that they are awaiting laboratory reports on a third possible case involving a 3-year-old child. According to the health department, all three Falls students are not in school at this time and are still recovering from the illness.

In addition, county health officials confirmed previous positive test results for three students in the Barker school district. According to the health department, all three Barker students have fully recovered from the illness and have returned to school.

http://www.niagara-gazette.com/local/local_story_170233013.html

[HenryN]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

The Barker Central School District is committed to maintaining a healthy and safe environment for our students and staff. We are closely monitoring the most recent developments of the H1N1 virus or "Swine Flu". We have been notified by the Niagara County Health Department that we had three confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus in our District. In each case, the infected person remained at home until they were no longer contagious. Our school nurse is closely monitoring the situation. We are taking all recommended measures to ensure the safety of our students and staff.

A letter has been sent home to every family in the District. Families have also been contacted regarding the situation via the Global Connect phone system. For more information, please click on the following link.

http://www.barkercsd.net/barkercsd/cwp/view.asp?A=3&Q=279478

[Flufreak]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

see new "Asymptomatic H1N1" thread in Deliberation Room forum

[Flufreak]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

see new thread

[Giuseppe]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

I'd like to broach a very important topic (maybe this needs it's own thread: hint,hint) that has significant implications for spread and avoidance. The following is from the May 28th CDC telebriefing:
Anne Schuchat :"So it's possible that with additional testing and studies, these attack rates will be adjusted upwards, from what we've seen, once we understand who is exposed and infected, but not ill. What we call the asymptomatic attack rate."

I have not heard anything more on this topic at all from anywhere.
We have heard a lot about shedding virus prior to symptoms, but surely folks running around shedding virus without ever appearing sick is a much easier (or additional) explanation for community transmission even when everyone is following the rules!

Chinese Report:
(...)

1. <jmchen66@yahoo.cn>All of the 120 cases developed some flu-like symptoms, but none of them showed severe clinical signs, and till date, 62 have recovered. At least 4 human infections with the virus without any clinical signs were found and they were not included in the 120 cases.</jmchen66@yahoo.cn>

(...)
[from http://apex.oracle.com/pls/otn/f?p=2..._ID:1000,77986 ]

[HenryN]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/586531

Flu outbreak at city schools likely H1N1: officials
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<!-- AUTHOR 1 -->Paul Morse
<!-- CREDIT 1-->The Hamilton Spectator
<!-- ARTICLE CONTENT-->(Jun 20, 2009)
A large outbreak of influenza A suspected to be swine flu is now spreading rapidly in Hamilton, health officials say.
The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board has triggered the first active phase of its swine flu strategy for the first time, board officials said yesterday.
The leading edges of the outbreak are Ryerson Elementary School in central Hamilton and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Elementary School near Lime Ridge Mall. A suspected outbreak is being investigated at a third school, as well.
School officials say 24 students at Ryerson and about 20 at Our Lady of Lourdes have been infected with the type A respiratory virus.
"All the cases in Hamilton have been mild," said Dr. Chris Mackie, Hamilton's associate medical officer of health.
Although it has not yet been confirmed that it's the swine flu -- the human H1N1 virus -- Mackie said that's most likely what the outbreak is, because 95 per cent of flu currently in the province is H1N1.
The public board is sending in disinfection teams tonight and tomorrow to sanitize furniture at Ryerson, said superintendent of operations John Forbeck at the public board.
"We will also have a handwashing station set up in the school's lobby on Monday," he said.
"We're going to reinforce with students the proper routines of handwashing."
Hamilton has 23 confirmed cases of swine flu, which will rise sharply if the school cases prove to be swine flu.
There are currently 183 cases of H1N1 flu virus confirmed in Halton Region. Of those, 139 are students attending 44 different schools in Halton, 26 of which are in Oakville. Each municipality in Halton Region has confirmed cases and each municipality has at least one school with a confirmed case.
Our Lady of Lourdes staff think the flu first emerged in the school about eight days ago, said principal Marisa DiCenso.
"There's been a steady trend of children getting better and others getting sick," she said.
Letters from public health went home to parents Wednesday, and parents have been calling the school to find out when it's appropriate for their children to return to class.
School officials are also asking parents to provide more information when they call in to let a school know their child will be absent.
"It's helpful if the parents let us know what their child's symptoms are," Forbeck said.
City health officials say this is the first time they've seen the rapid spread of this influenza in the community, but it was not unexpected given that other Ontario cities, including Toronto and Ottawa, have seen significant numbers of cases.
Dr. Arlene King, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, said there are 264 new confirmed cases of H1N1 flu virus since Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases in Ontario to 2,528.
pmorse@thespec.com

[HenryN]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

Parents Concerned After Teen With Swine Flu Dies

Originally printed at http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/48732447.html

Grief counselors will be on-site at Harvey Austin, School #97, on Monday to help students and staff deal with the death of Matthew Davis, 15, who died Saturday after contracting swine flu, or the H1N1 virus.
A 9-year-old girl from Buffalo remains in critical condition at the Pediatric ICU at Women and Children's Hospital.
Kimberly Wells, a parent whose daughter attends Harvey Austin, says she is keeping her daughter out of school for the short remainder of the year. She will only allow another daughter in high school to go to Burgard for her final exam.
"They (should) close the schools and end the year," she says. "They can cut down on the percentage of the virus going around from the contact of the children, and the ones that have to finish their exams, let them go into school and then evacuate them out."
But despite the tragic death, the Erie County Health Department does not recommend schools close in these circumstances. Swine flu cases have been confirmed in eleven out of 63 Buffalo Public School locations, and suburban and private schools are seeing it too.
The health department and school districts are urging parents to keep their children home if they are experiencing flu-like symptoms. This includes keeping children home once summer activities begin too.
Click on Swine Flu at the top of your screen for more information.

[tropical]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

#22: ""They (should) close the schools and end the year," she says. "They can cut down on the percentage of the virus going around from the contact of the children, and the ones that have to finish their exams, let them go into school and then evacuate them out.""

[Shiloh]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

Source: http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S989162.shtml?cat=566

Posted at: 06/21/2009 10:26 PM | WHEC.com

Mother of boy who died of Swine Flu warns parents

We're hearing from the mother of a Buffalo boy who died this weekend after being hospitalized with the Swine Flu.

As we reported last night, family members say Matthew Davis died Saturday night.

He was an eighth grader at Harvey Austin School, and was just 15-years old.

The boy's mother, Lucretia Belton, says he had pneumonia and MRSA as complications from the Swine Flu, and his kidneys failed.

She made this plea to other parents.

?This is no joke, this is really, really, really serious. Please get your kids, any kind of sign, get them there, don't wait until we get this far like my baby.?

A 9-year-old girl in Buffalo is also in the hospital in critical condition with the Swine Flu.

Just this past week, Monroe County health officials issued an alert, saying the Swine Flu outbreak is now an epidemic.

[hawkeye]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

What are all of the preexisting conditions?

Source: http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S989162.shtml?cat=566

Posted at: 06/21/2009 10:26 PM | WHEC.com

Mother of boy who died of Swine Flu warns parents

We're hearing from the mother of a Buffalo boy who died this weekend after being hospitalized with the Swine Flu.

As we reported last night, family members say Matthew Davis died Saturday night.

He was an eighth grader at Harvey Austin School, and was just 15-years old.

The boy's mother, Lucretia Belton, says he had pneumonia and MRSA as complications from the Swine Flu, and his kidneys failed.

She made this plea to other parents.

?This is no joke, this is really, really, really serious. Please get your kids, any kind of sign, get them there, don't wait until we get this far like my baby.?

A 9-year-old girl in Buffalo is also in the hospital in critical condition with the Swine Flu.

Just this past week, Monroe County health officials issued an alert, saying the Swine Flu outbreak is now an epidemic.

[HenryN]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

What are all of the preexisting conditions?

There are NO pre-existing conditions reported for either student.

[HenryN]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.recombinomics.com/News/06220901/H1N1_Buffalo.html">Commentary</a>

[HenryN]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

Updated: 06/22/09 07:54 AM
Death comes amid swine flu spurt

Three others here still hospitalized

By Henry L. Davis
NEWS MEDICAL REPORTER
<!--Updated: 06/22/09 7:54 AM --><!--startclickprintexclude--><!-- Start /PubSys/Story/MediaBox/MediaBox.comp --><!-- begin story-tools --><!-- ADDTHIS BUTTON END -->
<!-- end share buttons -->
<!-- End /PubSys/Story/MediaBox/MediaBox.comp --><!--endclickprintexclude--><!---->The death Saturday of an eighth-grade teenager from swine flu came as public health officials tracked a small burst of hospitalizations last week in Buffalo caused by the influenza virus.
The boy who died was identified by WIVB-TV as Matthew Davis, 15, a student at Buffalo’s Harvey Austin School 97. Attempts by The Buffalo News to reach his family were unsuccessful.
The death is the first in Erie County attributed to the H1N1 flu virus.
Three children remain hospitalized at Women & Children’s Hospital with the flu, including a 9-year-old student at Charles Drew Science Magnet School 59 in critical condition. One of the children is from Niagara County.
All four hospitalizations arose in the last week, Dr. Richard Judelsohn, a private pediatrician and medical director of the county Health Department, said Sunday.
In total, eight people, including two adults, have been hospitalized in Erie County since the first case of H1N1 was confirmed here May 11, public health officials confirmed.
Most of the H1N1 cases seen in the Buffalo Niagara region have been mild, as is the case in the United States in general.
However, Judelsohn said, “The hospitalizations and death are reminders that all of us must redouble our efforts to use practicable means to prevent the spread of the virus.”
Among other measures, health officials recommend that individuals stay home when ill and practice good cough etiquette and hand hygiene in public.
Swine flu, officially known as novel H1N1, is a influenza virus of swine origin that was first detected in humans in April. The strain is continuing to spread in many parts of the U. S., especially in the Northeast, according to a telephone briefing last week by officials at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The increased flu activity in the Northeastern U. S. is a rough estimate based on reports from sentinel health clinics that track what percent of their patients suffer from influenzalike symptoms.
The regular flu season usually winds down in June, but it’s expected that H1N1 flu activity will continue through the summer and into the fall, when the regular flu season starts again, according to the CDC.
As of Friday, there were 21,449 confirmed and probable cases of H1N1 flu in the U. S., including 166 in Erie County. However, these cases only reflect the illness’ spread. The actual number of people with the virus is significantly higher, probably in the hundreds of thousands, officials said at the briefing.
So far, public health officials have reported about 1,600 hospitalizations and 87 deaths nationwide from H1N1. The regular flu causes 36,000 deaths a year in the U. S.
The virus continues to hit mostly younger people, usually causing fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue and chills, symptoms similar to the regular flu. About 70 percent of the hospitalized patients have suffered from an existing underlying medical condition, such as asthma or diabetes, making them more at risk for complications, according to the CDC.
Information about whether Matthew Davis was healthy before coming down with the flu has not been publicly released.
Doctors do not know why the new strain of influenza seems to favor younger patients over the elderly, who typically are more at risk for complications from the regular flu. One theory is that older people may have been exposed to viruses similar to the new virus, giving their body’s disease-fighting immune system an advantage.
It is one of the unanswered questions about how H1N1 develops, what makes one person more at risk than another, and whether there are better ways of treating the disease.
Experts are worried about the new virus because no one knows if it is more or less dangerous than regular flu or if it will mutate later into a more lethal virus in a world population with little or no immunity to it.
“We need to know more,” said Judelsohn. “There have to be lessons learned day to day in case this virus becomes more virulent.”
hdavis@buffnews.com

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/710796.html

Buzz up!

[HenryN]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

Swine Flu tragedy in
Buffalo

"He came home complaining about a
headache..."

Updated: Monday, 22 Jun 2009, 4:43 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 22 Jun 2009, 12:23 PM EDT

• Michele McClintick
• Posted by Emma Orn

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Students at Harvey Austin School 97 are back in class after losing one of their classmates this weekend to complications from Swine Flu.

Grief counselors were at the school Monday morning. 15 year old Matthew Davis died from the H1N1 virus. Instead of celebrating his 8th grade graduation, his family is now planning his funeral.

The Harvey Austin School is a little quieter Monday. A message outside the building explains why. An 8th grade student who just graduated, died this weekend.

Lucretia Belton is living a nightmare after losing her son Matthew Davis to the Swine flu. It all began over a week ago Friday.

"He came home complaining about a headache, and I figured it was nothing," said Lucretia.

By the end of the weekend his condition worsened, and by Monday he was at the hospital where he was given an antibiotic and went home.

"Tuesday he got worse. He couldn't eat nothing. Everything was coming up. He was complaining about his legs, dizziness," Lucretia said.

Lucretia took Matthew back to the hospital on Wednesday where he stayed. She said by the end he was on life support. "It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, ever. Now I gotta bury my child."

The Buffalo School District posted an audio message on it's web site this weekend saying, "We are tonight expressing our deepest sympathy to the family of a beloved Buffalo public school student."

The Superintendent, Dr. James Williams, also released a statement and will be publicly talking about the shocking death Monday.

Matthew Davis' family will be remembering his smile and laugher. His brother, Vincent Rivers said, "It's a terrible tragedy he's not with us now."

The 15 year old was supposed to follow in his big brothers footsteps and head to Riverside high school to play football. Julius is angry that the Harvey Austin School remained open despite cases of the H1N1 virus at the school.

"My school had it and they shut it down for that reason. 19 people had it basically, they should have did the same for his school," said Matthew's brother Julius.
Matthew's mother said he was a healthy, active teenager. All of his family members have tested negative for Swine Flu.

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/local/Swine_Flu_tragedy_in_Buffalo_20090622

[HenryN]

Re: Buffalo boy with H1N1 virus has died

Swine Flu tragedy in
Buffalo

"He came home complaining about a
headache..."

Updated: Monday, 22 Jun 2009, 4:43 PM EDT

Published : Monday, 22 Jun 2009, 12:23 PM EDT
"He came home complaining about a headache, and I figured it was nothing," said Lucretia.

By the end of the weekend his condition worsened, and by Monday he was at the hospital where he was given an antibiotic and went home.

"Tuesday he got worse. He couldn't eat nothing. Everything was coming up. He was complaining about his legs, dizziness," Lucretia said.

Lucretia took Matthew back to the hospital on Wednesday where he stayed. She said by the end he was on life support.
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/local/S...ffalo_20090622

Legs and dizziness sounds neurological.