Updated Suspect U.S Deaths and Early Outbreak Events - Links/Maps

[pflu]

The suspected deaths after 4/24 below were started by Appleblossom. I was asked to take over the updating of this and early outbreak deaths in a new thread to help clean up the confirmed death thread here...

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=108492



This thread will track all suspected deaths after 4/24/09 and early outbreak events (deaths, infections, school closures, etc...) which occurred on or before 4/24/09.

Early outbreak events are mapped with links, info, and GenBank details...


http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U....500453,-90.686646&spn=0.416637,0.657806&z=11



There are two many events on the map to list them here, so we will restrict the listing to all current suspected deaths and highly suspicious early outbreak deaths.

As new cases are found I will update the list, if details are early outbreak map related I will try to provide a link that goes to the zoomed in location of the event on the map.

Flutrackers Suspected U.S. Fatalities After 4/24/09

#1 California - Wotan's got an unreported potential swine flu death in San Francisco, thread going in Flutrackers Discussion Forum
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=108528

#2 & #3 Florida - Thebes put up this article in the Florida folder about a couple in Madeira Beach, Edwin and Louise Kaczmarski, both 65, who had severe flu and were found dead by a neighbor, reported 6/11/09 *Louise had a heart condition.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/05/06/20090506abrk-childcaredeath0506.html

#4 California - Baldwin Park sixth-grader Cristian Torres Rodriguez of Baldwin Park, CA died Monday 6/8/09 after 29 days on a respirator. Reported 6/12/09 Family says it was swine flu.
Confirmed ?? 6/25/09

#5 Texas - McAllen 20 month old girl died 6/12/09, reported 6/15/09 *brought in "very ill" to the doctor, parents investigated for negligence, criminal pathologist testing for H1N1 and other viruses.

#6 Arizona - Phoenix, 4 month old child dies of pneumonia in a daycare, reported 5/6/09
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/05/06/20090506abrk-childcaredeath0506.html

#7 & 8 Arizona - 2 pediatric influenza A deaths, reported week of 5/17/09 - 5/24/09
http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oids/epi/flu/pdf/azfluweb210809.pdf
http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oids/epi/flu/pdf/azfluweb200809.pdf

#9 Florida - Tampa, 36 year old man John Grillo, teacher, died of pneumonia 5/22/09 reported 5/27/09
http://www.tampabay.com/news/obituaries/article1004891.ece
http://m.tampabay.com/hillsboroughco/107590/full/;jsessionid=48AFB81DB8DC4B0D2F17FAD7D41F4594.wap2

#10 New York - NYC 16 month old Jonathan Zamora Castillo, died 5/20/09 *mild fever treated at home with acetaminophen, fever spiked and cyanosis was noted, died in a Queens hospital ER 1 hour later, H1N1 nasal swab was negative, tissue samples sent to CDC, results were expected same week Confirmed ?? NY Death #17 ??
FluTrackers thread: What happened to Jonathan Zamora Castillo?

#11 New Mexico - Las Cruces, 6 year old boy Cody Scarborough died 5/28/09 reported 5/29/09 *sent home with a fever Tuesday (same day he died?), no symptoms prior to Tuesday, death appeared to be a heart attack, H1N1 test results were expected same week
http://newmexicoindependent.com/262...as-cruces-boy’s-death-was-caused-by-swine-flu

#12 Florida - Volusa County, 55 year old man died 6/23/09 reported 6/24/09, confirmed case of H1N1, hospitalized for several weeks, hospital claims his death was caused by a pre-existing chronic illness
http://www.wesh.com/health/19836231/detail.html
​

Flutrackers Suspected U.S. Fatalities Before 4/24/09
Map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...788081,-92.724609&spn=56.061388,84.199219&z=4

#1 Texas - Houston, College Station resident, 11 year old girl Alexia Morris died 1/25/09 reported 1/27/09 *School officials said Alexia had flu-like symptoms and missed a couple days of school last week. Officials said that local doctors determined her lungs were filled with fluid when examined on 1/25/09, and decided to transfer her to Houston, where she died en route.
http://www.kbtx.com/news/headlines/38458309.html

#2 New York - Staten Island, 12 year old girl Rosemarie Mercado died 3/8/09 reported 3/11/09 *previously healthy, woke up the morning of 3/8 with a sore throat and headache, pale, labored breathing, treated with OTC pain medication, died later that day
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/staten_island_girl_12_dies_fol.html

#3 New York - Chester, Orange County, 11 year old girl Alyssa Barberi died early in week of 3/11/09 *died suddenly after complaining of a sore throat
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/staten_island_girl_12_dies_fol.html
http://unitedinterim.blogspot.com/2009/03/bautiful-law-psalm-19.html

#4 New York - Long Island, 9 year old boy died 3/2/09 *died suddenly after contracting the flu
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/staten_island_girl_12_dies_fol.html
http://unitedinterim.blogspot.com/2009/03/bautiful-law-psalm-19.html

#5 New York - Long Island, 10 year old child died 2/10/09 *died suddenly after contracting the flu
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/staten_island_girl_12_dies_fol.html
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U....500453,-90.686646&spn=0.416637,0.657806&z=11

#6 Iowa - Dubuque, 16 year old girl Victoria "Tori" Martin died 3/7/09
* cause of death unknown, Hempstead High School student, she died just 24 hours after Maranda Nelson, who attended the same school
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=235961
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/41093757.html

#7 Iowa - Dubuque, 14 year old Maranda Nelson died 3/6/09 *previously healthy, Hempstead High School student, had been sick a week with flu symptoms, fever at 103 deg., then down to 101 deg., had been smiling laughing and talking, then quickly died, official cause of death listed as pneumonia
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=235961
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/41093757.html
​

 

[pflu]

Re: Links / Map - Updated Suspect U.S Deaths and Early Outbreak Events

Re: Links / Map - Updated Suspect U.S Deaths and Early Outbreak Events

Flutrackers Suspected U.S. Fatalities After 4/24/09

#1 California - Wotan's got an unreported potential swine flu death in San Francisco, thread going in Flutrackers Discussion Forum
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=108528

#2 & #3 Florida - Thebes put up this article in the Florida folder about a couple in Madeira Beach, Edwin and Louise Kaczmarski, both 65, who had severe flu and were found dead by a neighbor, reported 6/11/09 *Louise had a heart condition.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/05/06/20090506abrk-childcaredeath0506.html

#4 California - Baldwin Park sixth-grader Cristian Torres Rodriguez of Baldwin Park, CA died Monday 6/8/09 after 29 days on a respirator. Reported 6/12/09 Family says it was swine flu.
Confirmed ?? 6/25/09

#5 Texas - McAllen 20 month old girl died 6/12/09, reported 6/15/09 *brought in "very ill" to the doctor, parents investigated for negligence, criminal pathologist testing for H1N1 and other viruses.

#6 Arizona - Phoenix, 4 month old child dies of pneumonia in a daycare, reported 5/6/09
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/05/06/20090506abrk-childcaredeath0506.html

#7 & 8 Arizona - 2 pediatric influenza A deaths, reported week of 5/17/09 - 5/24/09
http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oids/epi/flu/pdf/azfluweb210809.pdf
http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oids/epi/flu/pdf/azfluweb200809.pdf

#9 Florida - Tampa, 36 year old man John Grillo, teacher, died of pneumonia 5/22/09 reported 5/27/09
http://www.tampabay.com/news/obituaries/article1004891.ece
http://m.tampabay.com/hillsboroughco/107590/full/;jsessionid=48AFB81DB8DC4B0D2F17FAD7D41F4594.wap2

#10 New York - NYC 16 month old Jonathan Zamora Castillo, died 5/20/09 *mild fever treated at home with acetaminophen, fever spiked and cyanosis was noted, died in a Queens hospital ER 1 hour later, H1N1 nasal swab was negative, tissue samples sent to CDC, results were expected same week Confirmed ?? NY Death #17 ??
FluTrackers thread: What happened to Jonathan Zamora Castillo?

#11 New Mexico - Las Cruces, 6 year old boy Cody Scarborough died 5/28/09 reported 5/29/09 *sent home with a fever Tuesday (same day he died?), no symptoms prior to Tuesday, death appeared to be a heart attack, H1N1 test results were expected same week
http://newmexicoindependent.com/262...as-cruces-boy’s-death-was-caused-by-swine-flu

#12 Florida - Volusa County, 55 year old man died 6/23/09 reported 6/24/09, confirmed case of H1N1, hospitalized for several weeks, hospital claims his death was caused by a pre-existing chronic illness
http://www.wesh.com/health/19836231/detail.html
​

Flutrackers Suspected U.S. Fatalities Before 4/24/09
Map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...788081,-92.724609&spn=56.061388,84.199219&z=4

#1 Texas - Houston, College Station resident, 11 year old girl Alexia Morris died 1/25/09 reported 1/27/09 *School officials said Alexia had flu-like symptoms and missed a couple days of school last week. Officials said that local doctors determined her lungs were filled with fluid when examined on 1/25/09, and decided to transfer her to Houston, where she died en route.
http://www.kbtx.com/news/headlines/38458309.html

#2 New York - Staten Island, 12 year old girl Rosemarie Mercado died 3/8/09 reported 3/11/09 *previously healthy, woke up the morning of 3/8 with a sore throat and headache, pale, labored breathing, treated with OTC pain medication, died later that day
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/staten_island_girl_12_dies_fol.html

#3 New York - Chester, Orange County, 11 year old girl Alyssa Barberi died early in week of 3/11/09 *died suddenly after complaining of a sore throat
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/staten_island_girl_12_dies_fol.html
http://unitedinterim.blogspot.com/2009/03/bautiful-law-psalm-19.html

#4 New York - Long Island, 9 year old boy died 3/2/09 *died suddenly after contracting the flu
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/staten_island_girl_12_dies_fol.html
http://unitedinterim.blogspot.com/2009/03/bautiful-law-psalm-19.html

#5 New York - Long Island, 10 year old child died 2/10/09 *died suddenly after contracting the flu
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/staten_island_girl_12_dies_fol.html
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U....500453,-90.686646&spn=0.416637,0.657806&z=11

#6 Iowa - Dubuque, 16 year old girl Victoria "Tori" Martin died 3/7/09
* cause of death unknown, Hempstead High School student, she died just 24 hours after Maranda Nelson, who attended the same school
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=235961
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/41093757.html

#7 Iowa - Dubuque, 14 year old Maranda Nelson died 3/6/09 *previously healthy, Hempstead High School student, had been sick a week with flu symptoms, fever at 103 deg., then down to 101 deg., had been smiling laughing and talking, then quickly died, official cause of death listed as pneumonia
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=235961
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/41093757.html

#8 Texas - Teague - 37 year old high school teacher in Teague died Monday after a brief illness, thought to be the flu.
http://www.corsicanadailysun.com/news/local_story_042155310.html
​

 

[pflu]

Re: Links - Updated U.S. Death Counts

Re: Links - Updated U.S. Death Counts

Pflu - Would those early cases have been AH1 unsubtyped in the surveillance reports? If so, do you know if the health departments save samples and might be able to subtype them months after they were collected?

That's a good thought, it might be possible to match some of these to the state or county health reports and find if they were unsubtyped.

There is one case from philly where they had some old samples in the freezer and went back and tested them. They actually found a influenza A that could not be subtyped from 3/23/09...

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/04/more_than_100_sick_with_swine.html
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/..._ap_pareportsfirstprobablecaseofswineflu.html
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20090430__Probable__swine_flu_case_reported_in_Phila_.html
Came back negative: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20090502_Mixed_reactions_on_flu_exposure_in_Delaware.html


Unfortunately the CDC said it was negative. However it's tough to trust the CDC results on this. There is way to much political pressure for them to confirm an earlier outbreak of this in the US, it would really make them look bad and heads would roll.

If they wanted to they could do what Philly did in other places, unfortunately they have no incentive to do this.

 

[alert]

Re: Links - Updated U.S. Death Counts

Re: Links - Updated U.S. Death Counts

That's a good thought, it might be possible to match some of these to the state or county health reports and find if they were unsubtyped.

There is one case from philly where they had some old samples in the freezer and went back and tested them. They actually found a influenza A that could not be subtyped from 3/23/09...

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/04/more_than_100_sick_with_swine.html
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/..._ap_pareportsfirstprobablecaseofswineflu.html
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20090430__Probable__swine_flu_case_reported_in_Phila_.html
Came back negative: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20090502_Mixed_reactions_on_flu_exposure_in_Delaware.html


Unfortunately the CDC said it was negative. However it's tough to trust the CDC results on this. There is way to much political pressure for them to confirm an earlier outbreak of this in the US, it would really make them look bad and heads would roll.

If they wanted to they could do what Philly did in other places, unfortunately they have no incentive to do this.

I am in the Philly area, and that was big news here when it happened. The details as I understand them are that the child rapid tested positive for influenza A on 3/23, and the freezer samples were PCR negative for seasonal H1 and H3 in late April. The CDC stated that no influenza of any kind was present in the sample.

Given unreliability of rapid tests, I wouldn't look too hard at this as possible novel H1N1 - I think the rapid test was a false positive, and the child likely had another influenza-like illness.

 

[pflu]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

I only give it weight because it's part of a cluster of suspicious early outbreak events in the philly area...


http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...0.077021,-75.171204&spn=0.811227,1.31012&z=10

 

[alert]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

I only give it weight because it's part of a cluster of suspicious early outbreak events in the philly area...


http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...0.077021,-75.171204&spn=0.811227,1.31012&z=10

Most of the meningitis there, including all the cases connected to the University of Pennsylvania is lab confirmed Type B meningococcal meningitis (the one the vaccine doesn't cover). That bacterium has little or no connection to influenza of any kind. It is the pneumococcal meningitis cases that might be influenza related.

Also, keep in mind the population density in this area. More than 2 million people live within a few mile radius there, so we should expect a few background "pins". This really doesn't sound like Philly flu.

 

[pflu]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

I agree, the philly area is week, case wise compared to other areas on the map.

However, I've read that influenza can induce any type of meningitis, you've also got several of the kids who were hospitalized with Flu-Like symptoms testing negative for menengitis. Of course they could have had seasonal flu.

The idea of the map isn't that these are all likely H1N1 cases, rather they are all the cases which occurred in the US in clusters. There are a hand full of cases in other states, but they do not cluster and therefore are not on the map.

I'ts really striking how all these cluster, and even if none of it's H1N1 related, it may show how seasonal flu induces other illness.

 

[alert]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

I agree, the philly area is week, case wise compared to other areas on the map.

However, I've read that influenza can induce any type of meningitis, you've also got several of the kids who were hospitalized with Flu-Like symptoms testing negative for menengitis. Of course they could have had seasonal flu.

The idea of the map isn't that these are all likely H1N1 cases, rather they are all the cases which occurred in the US in clusters. There are a hand full of cases in other states, but they do not cluster and therefore are not on the map.

I'ts really striking how all these cluster, and even if none of it's H1N1 related, it may show how seasonal flu induces other illness.

While seasonal flu can induce other illnesses including meningitis, meningococcal meningitis is a severe enough illness that it usually occurs independent of flu. The kind of meningitis induced by flu (seasonal or novel) is usually either pneumococcal or viral (caused by the flu virus itself).

Sorry if I'm a little sensitive about blaming this pandemic on my hometown. I don't know if you are aware of this, but some Chinese sources tried to blame SARS on the Philly area, citing a woman from Mount Laurel, New Jersey - 10 minutes from Philly by car, who flew to Guangdong (Guangzhou, I belive) China in November 2002, and died of suspected meningitis there. Obviously, there are many reasons she didn't have SARS (lack of other US cases, testing on animals in Guangdong, etc.) but the blame was thrown anyway. I don't want that rumor spread about novel H1N1.

And also you are correct about seasonal flu. If 5-10% of the population (globally) get seasonal flu every year, that is over 100,000 cases of seasonal flu in the Philly area. That's an awful lot of background pins.

 

[pflu]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Appleblossom,

That's interesting, after you mentioned the type B deal i checked those philly cases and sure enough all 4 are type b plus the St. Josephs case which occurred a few miles north was type B. Early potential H1N1 for Philly is looking less and less likely.

I realize philly is large population wise and frankly I would expect clusters to occur in these large population centers simply because of the numbers. This is the reason my origin theory is central and northern Missouri based.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist who searched out specific case reports to back up a wild tale. The map is not biased and includes all the clusters I could find, i did not search by region. You will notice that northern population centers which probably have at least 100 times the population density compared to central Missouri have less activity, including Boston, Chicago, Twin Cities, DC, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, etc...

The Texas outbreak is also compelling, epically the rural areas between San Antonio and Dallas. The other area of interest to me is Ohio University towards western virginia. NYC looks good but the population is to big to take much meaning out of those cases.

 

[alert]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

We're going a little off task in this thread here, but it is worth mentioning that Type B is by far the most common type among college students in the US, because it is the only type that is not in the vaccine that many college students get before they start school.

You should probably discount a lot of the meningits cases that come from universities - they have always had high meningitis rates long before novel H1N1 - it is due to the sheer numbers of people living in close quarters, many of whom have flown in from other countries.

 

[pflu]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Sorry if I'm a little sensitive about blaming this pandemic on my hometown. I don't know if you are aware of this, but some Chinese sources tried to blame SARS on the Philly area, citing a woman from Mount Laurel, New Jersey - 10 minutes from Philly by car, who flew to Guangdong (Guangzhou, I belive) China in November 2002, and died of suspected meningitis there. Obviously, there are many reasons she didn't have SARS (lack of other US cases, testing on animals in Guangdong, etc.) but the blame was thrown anyway. I don't want that rumor spread about novel H1N1.

It's unfortunate that emotion has been injected into what is meant to be an unbiased analysis. I suspect there is quite a bit of that going around, including here at flu trackers.

Personally I would not care if my home town was ground Zero, or if it's somewhere else in my country. This is the same type of "hush hush" mindset that is killing people left and right as we speak.


A Final Note: The map isn't saying H1N1 started in philly, I'ts a map of cluster cases which all could very likely be and mean absolutely nothing. I'm not implying Philadelphia started H1N1.

 

[Skatman]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Alert,

I agree with you that there was a significant number of meningococcal meningitis cases a UPenn in February. My son attends another Ivy so I regularly read the IvyGate Blog and there was a lot of concern and comment on the issue at the time. I would be more inclined to agree with Pflu if the cases would have turned out to be viral meningitis but they were confirmed as meningococcal. Correct me if I am incorrect but I don't remember reading about any cases of co-infection of meningococcal meningitis and 2009 A/H1N1.

 

[alert]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Alert,

I agree with you that there was a significant number of meningococcal meningitis cases a UPenn in February. My son attends another Ivy so I regularly read the IvyGate Blog and there was a lot of concern and comment on the issue at the time. I would be more inclined to agree with Pflu if the cases would have turned out to be viral meningitis but they were confirmed as meningococcal. Correct me if I am incorrect but I don't remember reading about any cases of co-infection of meningococcal meningitis and 2009 A/H1N1.

You are correct. Meningococcal meningitis is NOT a complication of any flu, seasonal or novel.

 

[pflu]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

We're going a little off task in this thread here, but it is worth mentioning that Type B is by far the most common type among college students in the US, because it is the only type that is not in the vaccine that many college students get before they start school.

You should probably discount a lot of the meningits cases that come from universities - they have always had high meningitis rates long before novel H1N1 - it is due to the sheer numbers of people living in close quarters, many of whom have flown in from other countries.

If I do that, we will be left with a bunch of pins in Missouri. And when people don't see pins in Philly they will say...

"There were a bunch of meningitis cases in Philly this year also, what's the point of this map?"

What I will do is track down as best I can excatly what type of menningitis case each of these is and mark them, I've already done this for philly.

 

[pflu]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

You are correct. Meningococcal meningitis is NOT a complication of any flu, seasonal or novel.

A study on the first 21 deaths in Mexico...

In Mexico, bacterial coinfections were documented in 3 fatal cases.1 Preliminary studies utilizing molecular detection methods found 2 instances of coinfections (1 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 1 adenovirus) among 21 severe or fatal cases.8

http://hygimia69.blogspot.com/2009/05/human-infection-with-new-influenza-h1n1.html



From another article...

?We tend to see an increase in meningitis infections at this time of year. People everywhere, especially parents of young children, should be aware of the signs and symptoms,? said Joe Kearney, HPA East of England?s regional director, told Evening Star 24 newspaper.

Having the flu may make a person more likely to get meningitis or septicemia, which is a blood infection, the Irish Times explained.

?Battling the flu can affect someone?s natural immunity and may make them more vulnerable to infection with these bugs. The very young, the over-65 or those with chronic illness may be particularly at risk,? said Suzanne Cotter, a public health and medicine specialist at Ireland?s national Health Protection Surveillance Centre, in an interview with the Irish Times.

According to the paper, ?She urged people who have recently recovered from flu and who have become very unwell again with high fever shortly after, to seek medical attention as they may be at slight risk from meningococcal and pneumococcal disease.?

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news...es-Crop-Up-in-Schools-Around-the-Country.html

 

[the doctor]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

I agree that an objective investigation of confirmed deaths due to or contributed by influenza is not the place for emotional expressions or personal attacks.

This should not exclude rigorous scientific debate which requires the proponents for and against a position being permitted to have their say.

What is needed is the freedom to state your opinion and the freedom to challenge the expressed position without resort to the introduction of personal attacks being included in anyones argument.

This is the essence of scientific debate and what elevates it above common conversation.

GW

 

[the doctor]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Bacterial meningitis can be a complication of influenza but in this instance, I believe that the most common cause of it after influenza is pneumococcus.

There is no reason that I can see that meningococcus might not be a cause of meningitis after influenza. However, if there were a cluster of meningitis due to culture confirmed meningococcus then since this pattern is common among college age persons, then the more probably cause of these deaths is an outbreak of primary meningococcus rather than meningococcus infection occuring secondary to influenza.

GW

 

[pflu]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Bacterial meningitis can be a complication of influenza but in this instance, I believe that the most common cause of it after influenza is pneumococcus.

There is no reason that I can see that meningococcus might not be a cause of meningitis after influenza. However, if there were a cluster of meningitis due to culture confirmed meningococcus then since this pattern is common among college age persons, then the more probably cause of these deaths is an outbreak of primary meningococcus rather than meningococcus infection occuring secondary to influenza.

GW

I agree with this to some extent based on other incident's and clusters of meningococcus which have occurred in previous years. I'm well aware of how these things occur in University students and have looked at many previous year incidents of this. It is however worth noting that the Penn State outbreak / St. Joseph's University which included 5 confirmed cases from 3 unrelated incidents over a two month span is exceedingly rare.

Another rare occurrence in the same time frame was an MRSA Death a few miles away in a 13 year old.

http://cbs3.com/topstories/MRSA.Frankford.Teen.2.943233.html


I'm not quite ready to say no way to Philly having possible early cases of H1N1.

 

[pflu]

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Re: FluTrackers Confirmed U.S. Deaths

Minor update...

One of my map pins was misplaced. The University Park student was part of the UPenn campus. That Makes...

6 Meningitis (4 Unrelated Incidents within a 4 mile radius)
1 MSRA Death (7 Miles from UPenn)
2 UPen Influenza Hospitalizations
1 Suspect Meningitis (11 Miles from UPenn)

Incidents occurred between Mid February and Mid April.

 

[pflu]

Re: Updated Suspect U.S Deaths and Early Outbreak Events - Links/Maps

6/28 - Wisconsin Suspect Death:

A former Kenosha high school baseball star who died Saturday reportedly had suffered flu- or pneumonia-like symptoms and had been given antibiotics by a doctor.

Sam Schissel became unresponsive at his family's home in Somers and was taken by ambulance to Kenosha Medical Center, the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department said Sunday.

Schissel's mother said a doctor had given her son antibiotics, a hospital spokeswoman said. The treatment was given a day or perhaps a couple of days before Schissel's death, the spokeswoman said.

Schissel would have turned 19 Sunday, the spokeswoman said.

Schissel was a first-team all-state pitcher last year as a senior at Kenosha Bradford High School. He was the winning pitcher when Bradford won the state high school championship game.

Schissel won a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Minnesota, but transferred to Carthage College in Kenosha during his freshman year.

An autopsy will be performed Monday, Kenosha County Medical Examiner Mark Witeck said.



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