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Katy family details brush with swine flu
By CINDY GEORGE Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 8, 2009, 11:56PM
H1N1 illness has dropped off from peaks this summer and in early fall, but a Katy couple who nearly lost their teenage son to swine flu warned Houstonians Tuesday to get vaccinated now before the pandemic surges again.
Despite waning media coverage as well as fewer infections due to swine flu in Houston, the Cary family encouraged others to seek vaccination as the best way to avoid dire consequences from the H1N1 virus.
Billy Cary spent 54 days in Texas Children's Hospital this fall after swine flu wiped out his immune system, allowing secondary staph infections to invade both of his lungs.
The 13-year-old tennis player and his parents, Bill and Kim Cary, told their story at Tuesday's H1N1 Flu Forum ? a lunch with local experts presented by The Immunization Partnership and the Rotary Club of Houston.
Lingering effects
The healthy eighth-grader ? whose entire family had received seasonal flu shots to protect his asthmatic sister ? now has scarred lungs, damaged kidneys and will probably lose the tips of some toes because of poor circulation while hospitalized.
Mild symptoms one Monday in September turned into vomiting and fever by early Friday. Before the weekend, Billy was in intensive care.
?Being that he's so healthy, it hit us like a ton of bricks,? said his mother, Kim Cary. ?It's hard to describe our fear of his dying.?
More than 200 children nationwide have died since April from reported swine flu complications, but some estimates put the actual figure above 1,000.
Access to the vaccine, which began trickling into Texas two months ago, has been restricted mostly to those at high risk of H1N1 complications.
In recent days, most Houston-area health departments opened up their supplies to everyone.
Vaccine available to all
The Houston and Harris County health departments began offering the vaccine to all late last month. Supplies at the Galveston and Fort Bend health departments became available to everyone this week, though officials are focusing on priority groups: pregnant women, children, young adults, caregivers for infants, and adults up to age 64 with chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems. The Montgomery County health department will offer free vaccines next week to anyone who asks.
The H1N1 vaccine has been shipped to some large retailers, including about 100 Kroger stores in the Houston area. Participating pharmacies in the grocery chain, which begin offering shots today for $10, will get 300 to 1,000 doses each, said Rebecca King, Kroger's consumer affairs manager for Texas.
Billy was treated at Texas Children's alongside other youngsters with H1N1 who died, his mother said. The victims included a healthy 6-year-old Little Leaguer and a teen from Pasadena who had underlying conditions.
?There was just a lot of sadness there. The mother's cries I will never forget. I will never forget ? ,? Kim Cary said. ?Get your H1N1 vaccine. You don't want what happened to Billy to happen to your children.?
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6760368.html
By CINDY GEORGE Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 8, 2009, 11:56PM
H1N1 illness has dropped off from peaks this summer and in early fall, but a Katy couple who nearly lost their teenage son to swine flu warned Houstonians Tuesday to get vaccinated now before the pandemic surges again.
Despite waning media coverage as well as fewer infections due to swine flu in Houston, the Cary family encouraged others to seek vaccination as the best way to avoid dire consequences from the H1N1 virus.
Billy Cary spent 54 days in Texas Children's Hospital this fall after swine flu wiped out his immune system, allowing secondary staph infections to invade both of his lungs.
The 13-year-old tennis player and his parents, Bill and Kim Cary, told their story at Tuesday's H1N1 Flu Forum ? a lunch with local experts presented by The Immunization Partnership and the Rotary Club of Houston.
Lingering effects
The healthy eighth-grader ? whose entire family had received seasonal flu shots to protect his asthmatic sister ? now has scarred lungs, damaged kidneys and will probably lose the tips of some toes because of poor circulation while hospitalized.
Mild symptoms one Monday in September turned into vomiting and fever by early Friday. Before the weekend, Billy was in intensive care.
?Being that he's so healthy, it hit us like a ton of bricks,? said his mother, Kim Cary. ?It's hard to describe our fear of his dying.?
More than 200 children nationwide have died since April from reported swine flu complications, but some estimates put the actual figure above 1,000.
Access to the vaccine, which began trickling into Texas two months ago, has been restricted mostly to those at high risk of H1N1 complications.
In recent days, most Houston-area health departments opened up their supplies to everyone.
Vaccine available to all
The Houston and Harris County health departments began offering the vaccine to all late last month. Supplies at the Galveston and Fort Bend health departments became available to everyone this week, though officials are focusing on priority groups: pregnant women, children, young adults, caregivers for infants, and adults up to age 64 with chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems. The Montgomery County health department will offer free vaccines next week to anyone who asks.
The H1N1 vaccine has been shipped to some large retailers, including about 100 Kroger stores in the Houston area. Participating pharmacies in the grocery chain, which begin offering shots today for $10, will get 300 to 1,000 doses each, said Rebecca King, Kroger's consumer affairs manager for Texas.
Billy was treated at Texas Children's alongside other youngsters with H1N1 who died, his mother said. The victims included a healthy 6-year-old Little Leaguer and a teen from Pasadena who had underlying conditions.
?There was just a lot of sadness there. The mother's cries I will never forget. I will never forget ? ,? Kim Cary said. ?Get your H1N1 vaccine. You don't want what happened to Billy to happen to your children.?
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6760368.html