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Source: http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/articles/2009/10/12/news/news02_westnile.txt
7-year-old West Nile virus patient remains in coma
By Kate Gonzales
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Posted: Monday, October 12, 2009 10:40 AM CDT
A 7-year-old Modesto girl diagnosed with West Nile Virus has been in a coma and hospitalized in Oakland for almost three weeks. Her grandparents are longtime Angels Camp residents.
The girl, whom the family wishes to remain anonymous, is the granddaughter of Betty and Ralph Whittle of Angels Camp. They have lived in Angels Camp for more than 20 years.
The girl is a second-grader and attends school in Modesto. Her stepmother, who spoke anonymously, is the daughter of the Whittles and grew up in Calaveras County.
The girl was sent home from school Monday, Sept. 14, with a fever of 99 degrees. It was a low-grade fever, her stepmother said, so the girl's mother was not too worried about it initially. She added that, because of the threat of the H1N1 virus, students at that school are sent home if they have a fever at all.
From Tuesday through Thursday that week, the fever stayed tame but the girl complained of headaches, according to her stepmother. On Friday she was taken to her regular doctor, who told the girl's mother to rotate Tylenol and Ibuprofen and said the girl was fine.
While staying with her mom on Saturday, Sept. 19, the girl started vomiting and could not hold down food or water. She was very lethargic, her stepmother said, and the girl's mom decided to take her to the hospital the next day.
She was admitted to Memorial Medical Center in Modesto Sunday, Sept. 20, and the next day was airlifted to Children's Hospital Oakland. She has been in a coma since her admission to the hospital. According to cdc.com, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, about one in 150 people with the virus will experience severe symptoms, which can include falling into a coma.
?She's been in a coma for (more than) 14 days,? her stepmother said. ?It has hit us very hard.?
The Web site also said that about 20 percent of people who are infected will show symptoms such as headaches, body aches, nausea or a skin rash, while about 80 percent of people with the virus will show no symptoms at all.
Other symptoms for severe cases of WNV include vision loss, numbness and paralysis, and the Web site said the neurological effects can be permanent.
Doctors have also been testing the girl's reflexes, and last Friday she showed no reflexes from the neck down. As of this Wednesday afternoon, some of her reflexes had returned and she was starting to open her eyes more, her stepmother said, but she is still in a coma.
Last week the doctors flushed her body with healthy antibodies to help her fight off the virus. Her stepmother said it was somewhat experimental because the medication had only been used before to treat adults.
She and the doctors believe the medication is helping the girl get some reflexes back and plan to give her the medication again.
The girl's stepmother stressed the importance of awareness for other parents.
?You can't protect your kid from a mosquito bite,? she said with a shaky voice. ?And that's the roughest part ... this can happen.?
The girl's stepmother said they have set up mosquito traps at her house and the girl's mother's house.
?(WNV) was mentioned a few years ago in the news ? it was a big deal then, but it needs to continue to be a big deal,? she said.
?We're scared; we're terrified,? Ralph Whittle said last Friday.
The girl's stepmother described her as a ?very healthy and a very, very bright kid,? and added she had no pre-existing conditions.
?It's just crazy,? she said.
A spaghetti-feed fundraiser was held in Angels Camp Saturday, and raised about $500 to help the family with medical expenses. The family is planning another fundraiser, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at a park on Orangeburg Avenue in Modesto, across the street from New Hope Recovery Center.
An account has also been set up at Guaranty Bank in Angels Camp in Ralph Whittle's name. For more information on WNV, visit cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/wnv_factsheet.htm.
Contact Kate Gonzales at kate@calaverasenterprise.com.
7-year-old West Nile virus patient remains in coma
By Kate Gonzales
Email this story | Print this story
Posted: Monday, October 12, 2009 10:40 AM CDT
A 7-year-old Modesto girl diagnosed with West Nile Virus has been in a coma and hospitalized in Oakland for almost three weeks. Her grandparents are longtime Angels Camp residents.
The girl, whom the family wishes to remain anonymous, is the granddaughter of Betty and Ralph Whittle of Angels Camp. They have lived in Angels Camp for more than 20 years.
The girl is a second-grader and attends school in Modesto. Her stepmother, who spoke anonymously, is the daughter of the Whittles and grew up in Calaveras County.
The girl was sent home from school Monday, Sept. 14, with a fever of 99 degrees. It was a low-grade fever, her stepmother said, so the girl's mother was not too worried about it initially. She added that, because of the threat of the H1N1 virus, students at that school are sent home if they have a fever at all.
From Tuesday through Thursday that week, the fever stayed tame but the girl complained of headaches, according to her stepmother. On Friday she was taken to her regular doctor, who told the girl's mother to rotate Tylenol and Ibuprofen and said the girl was fine.
While staying with her mom on Saturday, Sept. 19, the girl started vomiting and could not hold down food or water. She was very lethargic, her stepmother said, and the girl's mom decided to take her to the hospital the next day.
She was admitted to Memorial Medical Center in Modesto Sunday, Sept. 20, and the next day was airlifted to Children's Hospital Oakland. She has been in a coma since her admission to the hospital. According to cdc.com, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, about one in 150 people with the virus will experience severe symptoms, which can include falling into a coma.
?She's been in a coma for (more than) 14 days,? her stepmother said. ?It has hit us very hard.?
The Web site also said that about 20 percent of people who are infected will show symptoms such as headaches, body aches, nausea or a skin rash, while about 80 percent of people with the virus will show no symptoms at all.
Other symptoms for severe cases of WNV include vision loss, numbness and paralysis, and the Web site said the neurological effects can be permanent.
Doctors have also been testing the girl's reflexes, and last Friday she showed no reflexes from the neck down. As of this Wednesday afternoon, some of her reflexes had returned and she was starting to open her eyes more, her stepmother said, but she is still in a coma.
Last week the doctors flushed her body with healthy antibodies to help her fight off the virus. Her stepmother said it was somewhat experimental because the medication had only been used before to treat adults.
She and the doctors believe the medication is helping the girl get some reflexes back and plan to give her the medication again.
The girl's stepmother stressed the importance of awareness for other parents.
?You can't protect your kid from a mosquito bite,? she said with a shaky voice. ?And that's the roughest part ... this can happen.?
The girl's stepmother said they have set up mosquito traps at her house and the girl's mother's house.
?(WNV) was mentioned a few years ago in the news ? it was a big deal then, but it needs to continue to be a big deal,? she said.
?We're scared; we're terrified,? Ralph Whittle said last Friday.
The girl's stepmother described her as a ?very healthy and a very, very bright kid,? and added she had no pre-existing conditions.
?It's just crazy,? she said.
A spaghetti-feed fundraiser was held in Angels Camp Saturday, and raised about $500 to help the family with medical expenses. The family is planning another fundraiser, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at a park on Orangeburg Avenue in Modesto, across the street from New Hope Recovery Center.
An account has also been set up at Guaranty Bank in Angels Camp in Ralph Whittle's name. For more information on WNV, visit cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/wnv_factsheet.htm.
Contact Kate Gonzales at kate@calaverasenterprise.com.