Re: 3rd A/H1N1 death reported in Alberta
http://www.calgaryherald.com/health...+didn+have+health+problems/1776304/story.html
Family says H1N1 victim didn't have health problems
By Deborah Tetley and Michelle Lang, Calgary HeraldJuly 10, 2009 7:06 AMBe the first to post a comment
Dr. Richard Musto, medical officer of health for the Calgary area, says about 10 to 13 patients are in Calgary hospitals with swine flu.
AIRDRIE - The son of an Airdrie woman who died of swine flu said his mother was happy, vibrant and healthy the day before she was rushed to hospital with breathing problems.
That was last Friday.
But by Wednesday morning, 47-year-old Tammy Gunn had died, becoming the first person in Alberta with no history of medical problems to be killed by the new virus.
Her family doesn?t understand how she wasn?t able to fight off the illness.
?Other than arthritis, which kept her home much of the time, she was a healthy lady,? said Trevor Gunn, 20. ?She had no other health problems that we knew about.?
Gunn died in Peter Loughheed Hospital early Wednesday after becoming ill with H1N1 influenza on July 3.
She is the second Albertan to die of swine flu in the past two weeks.
?Our assumption is that swine flu was a major contributor to her death,? said Dr. Richard Musto, medical officer of health for the Calgary area, speaking at a news conference Thursday.
?There?s always a spectrum of disease from any infection. We don?t know why this particular individual wasn?t able to fight off the infection.?
Trevor said his mother became ill Friday and called 911 while her husband and son were at work. She was having breathing problems and felt congested, so she was admitted to hospital, he said.
Tests confirmed a day later that she was infected with H1N1.
On Tuesday, she told the nurses she was feeling great, Trevor said. But all that changed later that day.
?She just started yelling out because of the pain and crying for help,? he said. ?But the nurses said they couldn?t do anything for her.?
Gordon, her husband of 25 years, was with her when she succumbed to the illness.
?My dad said she just fell back and died on her pillow,? said Trevor, adding his father feels lost without his wife.
?This is pretty hard on him,? said Trevor. ?She was a great lady who tended to make everyone feel loved no matter what.?
Experts said it?s rare for an influenza to kill younger patients with no chronic health conditions. The new H1N1 virus seems to be infecting more young people.
?She?d been mostly in the house, so we were quite surprised when they said swine flu,? said Trevor.
Those at highest risk of developing serious complications from the flu have chronic illnesses such as diabetes and lung diseases.
?With this virus in particular, it?s hitting younger adults,? said Dr. Jim Dickinson, a family physician and head of the provincial flu surveillance program. ?A small fraction of people get attacked very badly. The vast majority get a bit sick and carry on with life.?
Gunn?s death is Alberta?s third with links to H1N1, a virus the World Health Organization has declared a global pandemic.
On Monday, Alberta Health announced an Edmonton-area woman passed away in hospital June 30 after contracting swine flu.
The woman had chronic pre-existing medical conditions, as did a third Albertan with swine flu who died earlier this year.
The province has confirmed 1,204 cases of swine flu, including 131 new infections this week alone.
The Alberta Children?s Hospital has been working this week to contain an outbreak of H1N1 at the facility that has sickened three people, including two young patients and a staff member.
No other cases have been identified since health officials announced the outbreak.
It?s not clear where Gunn contracted the virus, which in a small number of cases can cause complications such as pneumonia and respiratory failure.
Musto said her disease progressed in a similar manner to others who have developed serious illness from the virus.
?Unfortunately, she died,? he said. ?We?ve had others with severe illness who have recovered and were discharged from hospital.?
He estimated about 10 to 13 patients are in Calgary hospitals with swine flu ? a small number compared to the 401 people in the city who have contracted the virus.
The virus, which originated in Mexico earlier this year, had infected 9,429 Canadians as of July 8 and nearly 40 people with H1N1 have died.
Normally, the elderly and the very young are at risk of developing serious cases of influenza, but Dickinson said many people over age 50 appear to be ?relatively protected? against swine flu.
He said there are a number of unusual features about the virus, including the fact it?s continuing to infect Canadians during the summer, when influenza normally slows significantly.
?There?s something different about this one we don?t fully understand,? he said.
Experts have warned the virus could come back in a stronger second wave this fall, and health officials hope a vaccine will be ready by late fall.
Dr. Andre Corriveau, Alberta?s chief medical officer of health, said vaccinations will likely begin at the end of October, after the regular flu campaign.
WITH FILES FROM THE EDMONTON JOURNAL
MLANG@THEHERALD.CANWEST.COM
? Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
