Local kindergarten student dies of swine flu

[Ronan Kelly]

Local kindergarten student dies of swine flu
Boy's death is first confirmed area H1N1 fatality.
By TIM STONESIFER
The Evening Sun

Posted: 11/03/2009 01:00:00 AM EST


A Littlestown kindergarten student died Saturday of complications from swine flu, after a three-week battle with the disease at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, according to a friend of the child's mother.

It is the first confirmed H1N1-related death in Adams County.

Kyree Gamble, a 5-year-old student at Rolling Acres Elementary School in Littlestown, was taken by his mother, Marci Place, to Gettysburg Hospital on Oct. 11 with a fever, said Megan Shreve, executive director of South Central Community Action Programs Inc., where Place is employed.

Shreve said Kyree was moved to Hershey the same day and was tested for swine flu soon after. Within a week, a diagnosis of H1N1 was confirmed, she said.

After going into respiratory arrest during his first night in the hospital, Kyree was connected to a heart-lung machine, which doctors hoped would help heal his flu-damaged lungs, Shreve said. As late as this past Friday, Kyree seemed to be improving, she said.

But after several weeks on the machine - which also thins the blood - Kyree died Saturday from pneumonia and the hemorrhaging in his lungs, Shreve said.

According to Shreve, Kyree attended school at Rolling Acres through the Friday before his hospitalization.

Littlestown Area School District Superintendent Donald Wills said Monday afternoon the district is making grief counselors available to any students who might need them.

Shreve described Kyree as a "lovely little guy," who
loved to organize things and help others.
She said Place's co-workers are seeking donations to help with funeral costs, and contributions can be sent to SCAAP at 153 N. Stratton St., Gettysburg, with the notation "Marci."
tstonesifer@eveningsun.com
http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_1369633...ce=most_viewed

 

[Readymom]

Re: Local kindergarten student dies of swine flu

This is only about 30-40 min. from me The child died at Penn State Hershey Medical center, where the doc that I give my local presentations works. He's director of the virology lab, there. So, I'm sure this child's case was before him at some point. -k

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Local kindergarten student dies of swine flu

5-Year-Old Dies Of Swine Flu Complications

Adams County Kindergarten Student Died Of Pneumonia

WGAL.com
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ADAMS COUNTY, Pa. -

A 5-year-old boy has become the first in the county to die from complications from swine flu.

Kyree Gamble, 5, died Saturday at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

A friend of his mother told News 8 that he caught swine flu and was sick for three weeks.

He died of pneumonia.

Kyree was a kindergarten student at Rolling Acres Elementary School in Littlestown.

Grief counselors are available at the school.

News 8 looked into the number of swine flu deaths across the Susquehanna Valley.

Two people have died in Berks County and one has died in Lebanon County.

Swine flu is blamed for at least 20 deaths statewide.


http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33606329/ns/local_news-lancaster_pa/#storyContinued

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Local kindergarten student dies of swine flu

Swine flu claims neat local 5-year-old



<CENTER></CENTER>
<TABLE class=photobox cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=photocell>

</TD></TR><TR><TD class=photocutline>KYREE GAMBLE</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>



BY JOHN MESSEDER
Times Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 7:30 AM EST
<!--[include_if_component:movie-file:1:incs/story/movie.inc]-->
Five-year-old Kyree James Gamble died Saturday at Hershey Medical Center, the first swine flu death in Adams County.

The Littlestown boy and his mother, Marci Place, were visiting in Virginia when Kyree became sick and they decided to return home. At first, the return trip was simply cautionary. According to family friend and employer Megan Shreve, the little guy was running a low grade fever, and had no sore throat or headache to indicate his apparent illness was serious.

?Everything seemed like he was just not feeling well,? Shreve said.

But by the time they arrived home, Kyree was worse, so she took him to the Gettysburg Emergency Room. From there he was sent by helicopter to Hershey where, three weeks later, he succumbed.

He left his mother and 14-year-old brother Jordan. They are preparing to move back to Gettysburg from Littlestown.

?She just doesn?t want to live in that house,? Shreve said, adding ?Gettysburg is their home.?

?He was an amazing kid,? she said Monday. ?He was only five, but he was always older than that.?

Shreve said he was always helping, often when other kids were playing. He wanted to help fix a motorcycle, or carry the largest table. When a farmer was giving hayrides, Kyree was the one taking tickets and arranging the hay bales.

?He was just a really neat, neat kid,? Shreve said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, there were 22 flu-related pediatric deaths in the week ending Oct. 30. Nineteen of them have been confirmed caused by the H1N1 virus. The CDC reports on its web site (http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm) that since April it has received reports of 114 laboratory-confirmed pediatric 2009 H1N1 deaths and another 12 pediatric deaths that were laboratory confirmed as influenza, but where the flu virus subtype was not determined.

The illness is highly contagious, and can be deadly.

But most people stricken by the H1N1 virus get over it within three to five days, according to Dr. Charles Marley, vice president for medical affairs at Gettysburg Hospital and chairman of the York/Adams Metropolitan Medical Response System. YAMMRS is coordinating distribution of the H1N1 vaccine in York and Adams counties.

?There are people who die from this disease,? Marley said Tuesday afternoon, ?but it?s less than one percent.?

H1N1 first appeared in Adams County in April. In typical flu manner, it receded for several months, but came back in a second wave when youngsters began school in September. Gettysburg Hospital Emergency Department saw about 10 cases a day through August, but in September, the number began to rise. The third wave peaked the week of Oct 16, at about 43 cases a day, then began to decrease again. On October 29, the Gettysburg ED worked with 10 flu patients.

?We don?t know there won?t be a fourth wave (during the winter),? Marley said.

But he pointed out the human body?s ability to become immune to viruses that it has dealt with and beaten.

?The more people who get this, the more people are immune,? he said, adding that vaccinations, as they come available, will increase the number of people immune to the virus.

Although hospitals and area doctors no longer test all flu patients for H1N1, Marley said the number of people in Adams who have had it likely number in the tens of thousands. That is because the majority of flu sufferers do not appear in the Emergency Department. Instead, they go to their family doctor or an area clinic ? or simply stay home and ride it out.

?The vast majority of people with H1N1 we send home, most of them without a tamiflu prescription? said Dr. William J. Steinour, medical director of the Gettysburg Hospital Emergency Department.

He said children often are brought in by their parents, who typically tell the ED staff, ?I don?t want to take any chances.?

But he said the effort is to try to discourage all but the most serious cases.

?Out Number One mission is to tke care of people with serious illness,? he said.

For example, ?If your child is breathing fast and looks like he?s struggling for breath, he needs to see a doctor soon,? Steinour said.

Other indicators are fever and cough without known pre-existing problems, chest pains or altered mental state. Although the symptoms could apply to other serious illnesses, as well, the latter may be a significant indicator in a child.

?I?m more worried about the quiet kid,? Marley said, noting most children will keep playing, in spite of illness.

He said the best person to define the seriousness of an illness often is the parent.

?You?ve seen your kid sick before,? he said. ?Now all of a sudden you?re worried (about the different way the illness is affecting the child).?

?Now its time to seek attention,? said Marley.

He complimented area primary care providers for ?double booking patients? and keeping their offices open extended hours.

?We certainly appreciate all the effort on the part of the primary care practices,? he said, noting the resulting ?reduced load on the ER.?

He said Upper Adams School District youngsters likely will receive the vaccine starting Nov. 9.

?We expect to get enough in to start an Adams and York county school district at the same time the week of Nov. 16,? he said.

After that vaccine shipments are expected ?about every week to ten days and ? we plan to do both an Adams County and York County school at the same time, based on availability of vaccine and volunteers.?

He said volunteers are not expected to be a problem ? ?We have almost 800 volunteers signed up for YAMMRS right now.?

Schools will be selected by lottery until all have received the vaccine. Marley said schools and age groups will be announced in the media, and anyone who has not been afflicted should get the vaccine when it is available. It does not cure the illness, but it does prevent it.

http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/articles/2009/11/04/news/local/doc4af1720013f80739682991.txt

 

[B.C.]

Re: Local kindergarten student dies of swine flu

State confirms swine flu in boy's death
By TRAVIS LAU

School officials say they are following state's recommended procedures. The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed Tuesday that a 5-year-old Adams County boy is Pennsylvania's first swine flu-related pediatric death.

A department press release states the boy died Saturday "as a result of complications from H1N1 flu," though it provides no further detail about his identity or the case.

But Megan Shreve, the executive director at South Central Community Action Programs Inc., and a friend of the boy's mother, said Monday 5-year-old Kyree Gamble had died of complications related to swine flu. Kyree's mother, Marci Place, works for SCCAP.

Littlestown Area School District Superintendent Donald Wills acknowledged on Tuesday that the district had recently been informed a student had been hospitalized for H1N1. And the Littlestown Area School District on Monday sent a letter home with children who were classmates of the Rolling Acres Elementary School kindergartner, indicating Kyree died Saturday, although the letter made no mention of the cause of death.

Kyree, a student in Mrs. Erin Hahn's kindergarten class, died at Penn State Hershey Medical Center after a three-week battle with swine flu, Shreve said. Kyree was taken to Gettysburg Hospital on Oct. 11 with a fever, was moved to Hershey on the same day and tested for swine flu soon after, she said.

The boy went into respiratory arrest during his first night in the hospital and while he seemed to improve after several weeks of being connected to a heart-lung machine, he died on Saturday from pneumonia and hemorrhaging in his lungs, Shreve said. Kyree had no pre-existing health conditions, she said.

The letter from Littlestown schools informed parents of Kyree's death and let them know the district was making available grief counselors for any children who might need them. But it did not say the death resulted from complications from swine flu.

Citing privacy procedures outlined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Wills on Tuesday explained the district's decision.

"If I have (medical) information about a staff member or a student, I am not privileged to share that information with anyone," he said.

Wills said the Littlestown district, like others in the area, have had "numerous confirmed cases of H1N1" and the district has been following all guidelines recommended by the state departments of health and education in dealing with the virus.

The district has made a continual effort to inform parents about the symptoms of swine flu and has asked them to keep sick children away from school, he said.

Students who become sick at school are isolated and outfitted with surgical masks until they can be picked up by a parent or guardian, he said. And the district has been following strict cleaning procedures as recommended by the state.

Wills said the district is saddened by Kyree's death, but district officials didn't see a reason to notify parents of classmates that the death was H1N1-related, or otherwise treat an H1N1-related death of a student differently than any other confirmed case of the virus within a student.

"What's the purpose?" he asked. "Everybody knows what the symptoms are."

According to Dr. Stephen Ostroff, acting Physician General for Pennsylvania, Kyree's death does not mean there is a higher risk of infection or a different strain of swine flu in the Littlestown area.

"This doesn't mean the school has to close or there's any particular risk in that setting that doesn't exist in other settings," Ostroff said. "It's just a very unfortunate outcome in this situation."

Ostroff said the death should serve as a wake-up call that all cases of influenza should be taken very seriously, and it underscores the importance of being proactive.

"Influenza can cause severe complications and death in this age group, and it's so important to try and follow our prevention and control measures," he said.

The department's swine flu-related Web site - www.h1n1inpa.com - lists among those measures using a tissue or a sleeve when coughing or sneezing, washing hands frequently with soap and water, keeping recently used surfaces clean and staying home when sick.

Wills said Tuesday morning that he had not heard any complaints about the district's decision to include no reference to swine flu in the letters that were sent home, and the only parent of a Rolling Acres kindergartner he had talked to had called to ask about whether it was best to keep home from school a child who was grieving about Kyree's death.

"There is nothing more we can do or any other school district can do at this point," Wills said.

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_13710810?source=most_viewed