Baby's Death is 5th Linked to Flu in New York City

[thebes]

Baby's death is 5th linked to flu in city

BY Alison Gendar AND Caitlin Millat
Daily News Staff Writer

Monday, June 1st 2009, 6:10 AM


A Bronx infant has become the fifth New Yorker suffering from swine flu to die, the boy's family and an official close to his case told the Daily News yesterday.

Eleven-week-old Steven Monta?ez was already sick with swine flu when his aunt found the boy unconscious on Thursday, an autopsy revealed.

"I went in to check up on him, I turned him around and he was purple," said his aunt, Jennifer Castellanos, 18. "He was a completely healthy baby."

"The Health Department told us he died because of swine flu," she added.

The boy's father was inconsolable with grief.

"I have nothing to live for anymore," said the father, Louis Monta?ez. "You don't know how painful this is. We're going through such a bad situation right now."

A source familiar with the infant's case confirmed he was sick with swine flu, but the medical examiner had not yet determined if the H1N1 virus caused his death.

Jessica Scaperotti, spokeswoman for the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, would not confirm or deny the cause of death.

The city has refused to release information about three of the other victims.

The city's first victim was Queens assistant principal Mitchell Wiener, 55.

All were weakened by previous medical conditions, the city said.

About 130 New Yorkers have been hospitalized with the swine flu since the outbreak began.

The dead boy's mother, 28-year-old Gissele Monta?ez, had left the baby with her sister in their mother's Bronx home. The baby seemed fine when he went to sleep at 3 p.m. Thursday, but was unconscious an hour later.

The boy was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital and was pronounced dead a short time later.

Gissele Monta?ez, who spent yesterday planning her son's funeral, tested negative for swine flu. Other family members are set to be tested today.

"It's so sad," said Castellanos. "He was a beautiful baby."



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local...th_linked_to_flu_in_city.html#ixzz0EXQZKfEp&B

 

[kent nickell]

Re: Baby's Death is 5th Linked to Flu in New York City

It doesn't seem like there was a premortem diagnosis here but that the virus was identified at autopsy... Also seems like a very sudden onset of symptoms....

 

[HenryN]

Re: Baby's Death is 5th Linked to Flu in New York City

H1N1 Flu Eyed In Death Of Baby In NYC

5 Deaths In NYC Now Linked To H1N1 Swine Flu


NEW YORK (CBS) ―
<DL class="cbstv_article_images cbstv_img_border"><DT>New York City's medical examiner is reportedly investigating whether swine flu caused the death of a Bronx baby, CBS station WCBS-TV reports.

The family of 11-week-old Steven Montanez tells the Daily News that the baby had the flu when his aunt found him unconscious on Thursday.

The Health Department and medical examiner's office did not immediately return calls for comment on Monday.

As many as four deaths have been linked to swine flu since the outbreak began in New York City in April. Authorities say most cases of the virus have been mild.
http://cbs13.com/health/nyc.swine.flu.2.1026507.html</DT>
</DL>

 

[WTB]

Re: Baby's Death is 5th Linked to Flu in New York City

5th in City, a Small Child, Dies With Swine Flu


o

Article Tools Sponsored By
By JAMES BARRON
Published: June 1, 2009

A fifth person in New York City — a child less than 2 years old — has died with swine flu, a spokeswoman for the city’s health department said on Monday.

The spokeswoman, Erin Brady, cited patient confidentiality laws in refusing to release the victim’s name or say in what borough he or she lived.

The baby was by far the youngest victim of the H1N1 virus in New York City. The department said the others were between 25 and 64.

Ms. Brady said that tests had confirmed that the child had swine flu, but that it was not yet known whether that was the cause of death. She said the medical examiner would have to do more tests to try to establish what role the virus had played in the baby’s death.

At the same time, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said that tests on the first victim, an assistant principal at an intermediate school in Queens, had confirmed that the cause of death was swine flu. But the spokeswoman, Ellen Borakove, said that tests on that patient, Mitchell Wiener, 55, had listed three “significant and contributing” factors: obesity, hypertension and arteriosclerotic heart disease.

Mr. Wiener died on May 17, five days after he was hospitalized and three days after city officials closed his school, Intermediate School 238 in Hollis.

Swine flu, first identified in April, is known to spread rapidly — more rapidly than seasonal flu, from what health department officials can tell. In a regular flu season, people under 2 and over 65 are particularly vulnerable, as are people with underlying health problems. What had been unusual about H1N1 was the initial spread among teenagers.

Ms. Brady said on Monday that there were 47 confirmed cases of swine flu in the city jails on Rikers Island. But what appears to be a high number may be a function of testing.

Officials have been testing inmates aggressively because the outbreak at Rikers, reported on May 15, involved an isolated cluster. Officials wanted to monitor it closely, much as they did at St. Francis Preparatory School, where they confirmed 69 cases and believe that hundreds of students and teachers may have had lower-grade cases of swine flu.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/nyregion/02flu.html?ref=nyregion

 

[kent nickell]

Re: Baby's Death is 5th Linked to Flu in New York City

Just to speculate here, an unexplained sudden death in a young child like this would likely get the attention of the state forensic medical examiner. An alert examiner would do a test for swine flu and she should have prompt access to the state lab that is capable of doing the test. She would probably want to also examine the lungs under the microscope and test for secondary bacterial infections as well as look for other causes of death. Prominent lung disease with a positive swine flu test would seem to indicate a primary cause of death.

 

[Skatman]

Re: Baby's Death is 5th Linked to Flu in New York City

I remember that in 4 of the 5 deaths and the principal possibly indicated this also (5 of 6 if the baby who died a few weeks ago) cyanosis has been reported could it be that was are seen a more virulent strain here.

 

[kent nickell]

Re: Baby's Death is 5th Linked to Flu in New York City

It's hard to get all the details from a news story but the symptoms here seemed to develop rapidly. Young children can deteriorate quickly with infectious disease. Most patients that we have seen die seem to have more of a protracted course. It's possible that this child was tested earlier but testing has been being restricted to those more seriously ill. Either way hopefully this particular virus will be sequenced. A high level of suspicion and testing in similar unusual cases in all age groups will help establish the epidemiology and virulence.

 

[HenryN]

Re: Baby's Death is 5th Linked to Flu in New York City

Officials: Child under 2 who died had swine flu

Officials: Child under 2 who died had swine flu

<DL class=byline>BY MICHAEL FRAZIER | michael.frazier@newsday.com <DD>12:13 PM EDT, June 2, 2009 </DD></DL><!-- sphereit start -->A child under the age of 2 has become the fifth person with confirmed swine flu to die in New York City, health officials said Tuesday.

The city Health Department confirmed the child had swine flu and died, but the agency would not say whether the H1N1 strain was the cause of death.

Health officials said Monday they were investigating whether a Bronx baby was the latest victim of the H1N1 virus. They declined to comment on the death of 11-week-old Steven Montanez, whose family reportedly said they were told he had the virus when he died Thursday.

The Health Department declined to say whether the child under the age of 2 was Montanez.

http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-nyswin0312833489jun02,0,2281278.story