Another Death in Palm Beach County

[JimO]

Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/sfl-swine-flu-death-p072209,0,684230.story

Swine flu kills second person in Palm Beach County

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

11:16 AM EDT, July 22, 2009

Palm Beach County has had a second Swine flu death after a 42-year-old man succumbed to the disease, health officials said today.

The county has had a total of 247 cases of the H1N1 virus, with 49 confirmed in the last week alone, said Tim O'Connor, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Health Department. He said the World Health Organization also elevated the virus to a "level 6", declaring it a pandemic. Pandemic means it had spread quickly into a global outbreak.

The department did not identify the man who died.

O'Connor said the pandemic label was not because the flu has proved particularly deadly, but because it had spread so quickly. Health officials are still trying to gauge the Swine flu's severity.

The first death was reported in late June. Latoya Riley, 25, of Delray Beach, was seven months pregnant when she was admitted to the hospital, The Palm Beach Post has reported. The day care worker gave premature birth to a boy and died nine days later. The child survived.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Another Death in Palm Beach County

Source: http://www.wptv.com/news/local/story/Business-man-dies-from-swine-flu/4SQVZ_o8f06KKX6qUC_SPw.cspx

Local business man dies from swine flu
Reported by: Angela Sachitano
Email: asachitano@wptv.com
Last Update: 8:25 pm

WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- A West Palm Beach businessman is the second Swine Flu death in Palm Beach County.

42-year-old Edwin Hernandez died July 21 at Wellington Regional Medical Center from complications caused by the H1N1 virus.

Hernandez owned A and G Auto Body near the corner of Forrest Hill Boulevard and Georgia Avenue just east of Interstate 95.

Thursday, a picture of Hernandez is on the door of his shop with a black ribbon hanging underneath in memory of him.

A self-made business man, those who worked for and around him, say Hernandez was vibrant and full of life.

"Edwin painted my truck and he did such a good job," said Andrew Hanbury who owns the woodworking business across the street from Hernandez. "He was just a great person and fun to be around."

Georgia Avenue is an industrial area with a dozen or so locally owned shops. Most owners are average everyday working people and they are close knit.

"In the community, the people he touched from West Palm Beach to Miami and to Columbia, he will be missed," said friend Alex Weir.

Friends say Hernandez was raised in Miami and had lived in West Palm Beach for the past 15 years.

They say he was recently engaged and had just returned from a vacation in Columbia. They don't know if he contracted the H1N1 virus here or while out of the country.

All they know is just like all the other cases, Hernandez became ill and quickly deteriorated.

"They closed the shop last week because he was in the hospital," said friend Daniel Mendo, who works in the building next to him. "I just saw him and then I found out he was dead."

The virus has also taken a toll on other local families. 25-year-old Latoya Riley, a pregnant daycare worker, died June 26 after giving birth to a premature baby.

Another pregnant woman, 27-year-old Aubrey Opdyke, remains in a coma.

For those who don't know anyone personally, the virus may still be just something to talk about.

But for those who know the victims, its reality.

"To see somebody you know, so vibrant and full of life one day, and then dead the next, it brings it home," Hanbury said.