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Teacher hit hard by swine flu seems to be beating it
By Mark Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Jun. 19, 2009
One day the teacher's throat and ears hurt, the next her whole body ached and her temperature was 101.
By Sunday, the third day of her illness, Karen Simmons-Watson felt too weak to drive her car. Her temperature was 104.
"I was just burning up," she said Friday, speaking by phone from her room in isolation at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-St. Joseph. "That's when it was time to haul on in here."
Having spent the better part of a week in the hospital on the antiviral Tamiflu and an antibiotic, Simmons-Watson has improved, according to her doctor, Ravi Karmarkar, an infectious disease specialist.
"Her breathing has improved, and her fever has resolved," Karmarkar said. "Overall, she's doing much better."
After a week in which the swine flu pandemic killed two Wisconsin children, the progress of Simmons-Watson, a Milwaukee Public Schools teacher at Victory K8 School, was a positive sign that doctors can successfully treat even severe H1N1 influenza. Her improvement has come even though she has two underlying medical conditions that could put swine flu patients at greater risk - an upper respiratory problem and sickle cell anemia.
Wisconsin still leads the nation in confirmed and probable swine flu cases with 4,077, though health officials have cautioned that the high number likely reflects better surveillance and testing in the state. Still, Milwaukee alone now has more swine flu cases than any state outside its own.
So far, the flu cases have resulted in four deaths and 140 hospitalizations in Wisconsin. Nationwide the flu outbreak has caused 87 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although it took several days to confirm that Simmons-Watson, 50, had swine flu, the hospital immediately placed her in isolation and began administering medicine and intravenous fluids. Doctors, nurses and visitors all were required to wear gowns, gloves, goggles and tight masks. A study released earlier in the week reported that many American health care workers who have caught swine flu have not done enough to protect themselves from the virus.
J.R. Watson, Simmons-Watson's husband, went to see his own doctor right after his wife went into the hospital. And after visiting her, he has been washing his clothes in bleach.
"Well, I don't like to see her in that situation," he said. "All I can do is pray on her."
Simmons-Watson said she began to feel better on Tuesday. By Wednesday the fever was gone.
She does appear to have pneumonia, according to Karmarkar. But Simmons-Watson said she might be well enough to leave the intensive care unit this weekend.
By Mark Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Jun. 19, 2009
One day the teacher's throat and ears hurt, the next her whole body ached and her temperature was 101.
By Sunday, the third day of her illness, Karen Simmons-Watson felt too weak to drive her car. Her temperature was 104.
"I was just burning up," she said Friday, speaking by phone from her room in isolation at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-St. Joseph. "That's when it was time to haul on in here."
Having spent the better part of a week in the hospital on the antiviral Tamiflu and an antibiotic, Simmons-Watson has improved, according to her doctor, Ravi Karmarkar, an infectious disease specialist.
"Her breathing has improved, and her fever has resolved," Karmarkar said. "Overall, she's doing much better."
After a week in which the swine flu pandemic killed two Wisconsin children, the progress of Simmons-Watson, a Milwaukee Public Schools teacher at Victory K8 School, was a positive sign that doctors can successfully treat even severe H1N1 influenza. Her improvement has come even though she has two underlying medical conditions that could put swine flu patients at greater risk - an upper respiratory problem and sickle cell anemia.
Wisconsin still leads the nation in confirmed and probable swine flu cases with 4,077, though health officials have cautioned that the high number likely reflects better surveillance and testing in the state. Still, Milwaukee alone now has more swine flu cases than any state outside its own.
So far, the flu cases have resulted in four deaths and 140 hospitalizations in Wisconsin. Nationwide the flu outbreak has caused 87 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although it took several days to confirm that Simmons-Watson, 50, had swine flu, the hospital immediately placed her in isolation and began administering medicine and intravenous fluids. Doctors, nurses and visitors all were required to wear gowns, gloves, goggles and tight masks. A study released earlier in the week reported that many American health care workers who have caught swine flu have not done enough to protect themselves from the virus.
J.R. Watson, Simmons-Watson's husband, went to see his own doctor right after his wife went into the hospital. And after visiting her, he has been washing his clothes in bleach.
"Well, I don't like to see her in that situation," he said. "All I can do is pray on her."
Simmons-Watson said she began to feel better on Tuesday. By Wednesday the fever was gone.
She does appear to have pneumonia, according to Karmarkar. But Simmons-Watson said she might be well enough to leave the intensive care unit this weekend.