Re: Death Of A Hazelwood Central High School Freshman
Source:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...CFA0FCA37F2DDF2C8625763C004EB208?OpenDocument
Did local teen die of swine flu?
Asia Conley
By Kim Bell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/25/2009
HAZELWOOD -- The mother of a teen-age girl from North County says her daughter died of swine flu. State and local health officials are investigating. It would be the first time a child has died in Missouri from the swine flu.
Asia Conley, 14, died at St. Louis Children's Hospital on Tuesday evening after days in a coma.
"The doctor said she tested positive for the swine flu," Conley told the Post-Dispatch today. "Four doctors told me that the inflammation was from the flu. They said it went up into her brain and gave her three strokes because it had blocked the arteries of her brain."
Doctors showed Asia's parents an MRI of her brain and told them Asia would never recover. At about 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Asia's parents decided to give doctors permission to remove the breathing tube. She died about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, her mother said.
RELATED INFORMATION
bullet Read the letter from the Hazelwood School District
bullet Missouri Department of Health's website, latest information on swine flu
"They asked to do an autopsy just on her brain," Conley said. "The flu did it. They told me that."
The Missouri Department of Health will investigate the death because it involves the suspected flu death of a child. The state must forward a report to the Centers for Disease Control, said Kit Wagar, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
No child has died in Missouri from the swine flu, also called the H1N1 virus. Two adults who had H1N1 died this year in Missouri. A 44-year-old man from St. Louis County died in May. A 24-year-old woman from Independence, Mo., died this month. The swine flu is also suspected in the death of a third adult: a man in his 30s from Poplar Bluff died this week. He had asthma.
Asia suffered from seasonal asthma. She also underwent brain surgery two years ago to install a shunt for hydrocephalus, Conley said.
Asia came home from Hazelwood Central High School on Sept. 15, complaining of feeling tired after running a mile in gym class. The next day, Asia went to school and called her mother to say she was light-headed. She spiked a fever of 102.
Her mother took her to a pediatrician. In the doctor's office, Asia's fever had dropped to 99. The doctor told Asia to take a fever reducer and a few puffs of her inhaler, if needed. That night, she seemed to perk up, her mother said. Asia watched television that night and watched out the window as a construction crew installed a concrete driveway outside the family's home.
"The rest of evening, she was fine," Conley said. "She laid down around 9:30 and went to sleep. Around 1:30, she came into my room and said she wasn't feeling good. I said,
'Crawl in beside me.' In the morning, she got up and took two Tylenol. Her eyes were going to the left. She was having a seizure. I had her in my arms dialing 911."
That was Thursday, Sept. 17. She was rushed to St. Louis Children's Hospital. Relatives heard doctors use the term "swine flu."
Doctors said a rapid test showed she had the flu but weren't sure which strain -- that test pinpointing the strain would take about three days, they told Conley. Later, they told Asia's family that the tests had determined Asia had Influenza A. Swine flu is a substrain of Influenza A.
By the time an MRI confirmed the brain damage on Tuesday, they broke the news to her family.
"They sat down and explained to us her injuries in the brain and told us Asia was never going to be Asia again ... (that) you are going to have to do everything for her if she makes it through this, she's going to be a miserable child," said Asia's cousin, Brandy Brown.
When Asia was 12 years old, in 2007, she had hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and had brain surgery at Children's Hospital to install a shunt. After that surgery, she once had a seizure in December after a high fever. She was put on seizure medication in December, but in the summer they decided to reduce that medication. Doctors told Asia's family that the flu, not the previous surgery, led to her hospitilization and death, Conley said.
Conley said her daughter was a bright girl who already had her mind made up that she wanted to attend St. Louis University and become a lawyer. She had toured the university with other students who atttained at least a 3.0 grade point average. She and her mother were making preparations for her college education.
"She was excited to be in high school," Conley said. "She was the type of person who was bright. She was a loving child. She had this spirit around her and anyone who knew her, it brought joy to their heart."
Hazelwood School District spokeswoman Diana Gulotta said a letter was being sent home Friday to parents of the district's 19,000 students. The letter never identifies Asia, but talks about the death of a student at Hazelwood Central High School as a "presumed death from the H1N1 flu."
"The investigation is in its early stages and we cannot confirm the cause of the student's death at the time," according to the letter, signed by superintendent Mary Piper. The letter goes on to tell parents how the district is following Health Department guidelines to keep the buildings clean and encourages students to wash their hands frequently and cough into their elbows.
So far this year, 33 students across the district have had Type A influenza, Gulotta said.
Before Asia's death, the district had kept parents up-to-date on flu news by sending out an email to 11,000 subscribers. Also, a letter goes home to parents anytime a school in the district has four confirmed cases of Type A influenza or has 10 percent of its students out sick with the flu. However, Hazelwood Central never met that threshhold. Instead, only one or two students at that school had Type A flu.
Joe Conley, Asia's father, said he wishes the school had warned parents that the flu had been in the school.
"If they even had one case reported, why didn't they send something home to tell the parents," Joe Conley said. "Not just for Asia's sake, but for anyone who may not have had any underlying condition. Even for children that don't have asthma. Now they want to send something home after my daughter is gone?"
Nationally, more than 600 people with H1N1 have died.
"Missouri has been very fortunate, frankly," said Wagar, the spokesman for the Missouri Department of Health. "The vast majority of those (national) cases have involved people with underlying medical conditions or pregnant women. Most people who get this illness feel really bad for two or three days but get over it without treatment."
Because Asia lived in St. Louis County, the St. Louis County Health Department is the lead agency in her death investigation. In an email to reporters just before noon today, the county's Health Department confirmed that it was investigating the possibility that the H1N1 virus may have been a contributing factor in her death. County health officials will be consulting with Asia's doctors to "better understand the exact circumstances surrounding the death," the email says.
The email goes on to say that, until the vaccine is available, proper hand washing and hygiene are the best ways to prevent the spread of the virus.
Asia Conley's funeral arrangements are being handled by William C. Harris Funeral Directors. Visitation will be from 1 to 7 p.m. Monday at the funeral home, 9825 Halls Ferry Road. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at San Francisco Temple at 10185 Halls Ferry Road. Burial will be at Jefferson Barracks Cemetery.
kbell@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8115
