Commonground
Senior Moderator
Published: 11/05/09 1:38 am
he number of H1N1-related deaths in the Tri-Cities is now up to three -- two adults and a 5-month-old Pasco boy who died in mid-October in Spokane, officials said.And a 33-year-old Kennewick woman is fighting for her life at Kennewick General Hospital from complications her family says are linked to swine flu.
Heather Hill, communicable disease program manager for the Benton Franklin Health District, said Wednesday there are 50 confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza, or swine flu, in the area. But,the number of people who had or have the swine flu likely is higher because only a limited number of cases -- those with the most severe symptoms -- are being tested, Hill said.
Officials can't release the identities of those who die from the swine flu, but the state Department of Health does keep track of the deaths based on age, gender and county of residence.
Eight deaths in Eastern Washington -- 19 total in the state -- have been attributed to H1N1 since Sept. 19, according to data updated Wednesday afternoon.
One of the two new deaths on the east side was a woman in her 40s from Benton County, said Donn Moyer, spokesman for the state Department of Health.
Becky Lynn Black, 40, of Kennewick, died Oct. 28 in Seattle of complications from swine flu, according to her obituary in the Herald.
Moyer didn't yet have information on the third Tri-City death, but it may be a 67-year-old Kennewick man who died Oct. 28 in Spokane. His obituary said he died of complications from pneumonia and influenza.
Health officials have said that there are no signs of seasonal flu yet in the country, so anyone with flulike symptoms likely has H1N1. Seasonal flu typically arrives in Washington in January.
Through the end of October, there have been 736 people hospitalized due to the swine flu. Of those, 319 have been Eastern Washington residents, Moyer said.
Sherri Zuhlke has been hospitalized for about two weeks. Family members say it hasn't been confirmed she had swine flu because they were told the test has to be taken within 24 hours of getting sick to know for sure.
Sherri was sick for about two weeks with some cold and flulike symptoms before she went to the hospital for treatment, said her brother, Jason Zuhlke, 27, of Kennewick. She was then admitted with pneumonia, and has been in an induced coma for 10 days, he said.
The pneumonia developed into acute respiratory distress syndrome and her lungs stopped absorbing enough oxygen, he said. That's when doctors induced the coma and hooked her up to a breathing machine.
"They've maxed out the oxygen machine at 100 percent and she's still only absorbing 89-91 percent," Zuhlke said. "If it drops below 85 percent, it's not good."
-snip-
Statistics so far at the state level, show the majority of deaths attributed to the swine flu are consistent with deaths at the national level, where many fit "high-risk groups because of their age or because they have underlying health conditions," Moyer said.
Most of the deaths have been people in their 50s, 60s, or 70s, but two on the west side were in their 20s with underlying medical conditions, he said.
-snip-
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/942612.html
he number of H1N1-related deaths in the Tri-Cities is now up to three -- two adults and a 5-month-old Pasco boy who died in mid-October in Spokane, officials said.And a 33-year-old Kennewick woman is fighting for her life at Kennewick General Hospital from complications her family says are linked to swine flu.
Heather Hill, communicable disease program manager for the Benton Franklin Health District, said Wednesday there are 50 confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza, or swine flu, in the area. But,the number of people who had or have the swine flu likely is higher because only a limited number of cases -- those with the most severe symptoms -- are being tested, Hill said.
Officials can't release the identities of those who die from the swine flu, but the state Department of Health does keep track of the deaths based on age, gender and county of residence.
Eight deaths in Eastern Washington -- 19 total in the state -- have been attributed to H1N1 since Sept. 19, according to data updated Wednesday afternoon.
One of the two new deaths on the east side was a woman in her 40s from Benton County, said Donn Moyer, spokesman for the state Department of Health.
Becky Lynn Black, 40, of Kennewick, died Oct. 28 in Seattle of complications from swine flu, according to her obituary in the Herald.
Moyer didn't yet have information on the third Tri-City death, but it may be a 67-year-old Kennewick man who died Oct. 28 in Spokane. His obituary said he died of complications from pneumonia and influenza.
Health officials have said that there are no signs of seasonal flu yet in the country, so anyone with flulike symptoms likely has H1N1. Seasonal flu typically arrives in Washington in January.
Through the end of October, there have been 736 people hospitalized due to the swine flu. Of those, 319 have been Eastern Washington residents, Moyer said.
Sherri Zuhlke has been hospitalized for about two weeks. Family members say it hasn't been confirmed she had swine flu because they were told the test has to be taken within 24 hours of getting sick to know for sure.
Sherri was sick for about two weeks with some cold and flulike symptoms before she went to the hospital for treatment, said her brother, Jason Zuhlke, 27, of Kennewick. She was then admitted with pneumonia, and has been in an induced coma for 10 days, he said.
The pneumonia developed into acute respiratory distress syndrome and her lungs stopped absorbing enough oxygen, he said. That's when doctors induced the coma and hooked her up to a breathing machine.
"They've maxed out the oxygen machine at 100 percent and she's still only absorbing 89-91 percent," Zuhlke said. "If it drops below 85 percent, it's not good."
-snip-
Statistics so far at the state level, show the majority of deaths attributed to the swine flu are consistent with deaths at the national level, where many fit "high-risk groups because of their age or because they have underlying health conditions," Moyer said.
Most of the deaths have been people in their 50s, 60s, or 70s, but two on the west side were in their 20s with underlying medical conditions, he said.
-snip-
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/942612.html