Warren Co.: Springboro kindergartner with H1N1 dies

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news...boro-kindergartner-with-h1n1-dies-354678.html

Springboro kindergartner with H1N1 dies

Updated 4:03 PM Monday, October 19, 2009

DAYTON ? A Clearcreek Elementary School kindergartner who tested positive for the H1N1 virus died Sunday, Oct. 18, at Children?s Medical Center of Dayton following an illness.

Dr. Scott Swope, medical director for the Warren County Health Department, said a cause of death for the 5-year-old boy had not been determined. But the boy had a respiratory-pulmonary condition for some time and also had tested positive for influenza and possibly for H1N1 before he died, Swope said.

Betsy Woods, a hospital spokeswoman, confirmed that the boy died at the hospital, but referred questions about his cause of death to the Warren County health department.

Springboro Schools Supt. David Baker said the boy had been absent from school for a couple of weeks because of an illness.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Warren Co.: Springboro kindergartner with H1N1 dies

Source: http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/10/19/daily44.html

Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 4:00pm EDT | Modified: Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 4:02pm
Vaccinations set after death of child with H1N1
Dayton Business Journal

The Warren County Combined Health District is saying the death of child who died after being diagnosed with having the H1N1 virus, also known as Swine Flu, can be blamed on respiratory complications and not on the virus. Though the district will begin administering vaccines to the public this weekend.

The child, a 5-year-old kindergarten student within the Springboro Community School District, died at Children?s Medical Center of Dayton on Sunday. Any further investigation into the child?s death will be done by the Montgomery County Coroner?s Office and Dayton Children?s Hospital, Warren County officials said.

The combined health district, however, will start administering the vaccine for the H1N1 virus this Saturday.

The health department be administering the nasal vaccine for H1N1 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Warren County Fairgrounds/Lebanon Raceway located at 665 N. Broadway in Lebanon. There will be no charge for the vaccine.

The following individuals are eligible to receive the H1N1 flu mist vaccine at this time:

? Two years through 24 years of age;

? From 25 years through 49 years of age and live with or care for infants younger than 6 months of age; or

? Health care or emergency personnel.

Certain demographic groups should not get nasal vaccine, including: pregnant women, children and adults with long-term health problems, children from birth to 2 years of age, individuals 50 years of age and older, anyone in close contact with a person with a severely weakened immune system and children or adolescents on long-term aspirin treatment. Those individuals are encouraged to get the shot when it becomes available.

Meanwhile, the health district is warning people to take extra precautions to prevent more cases from area residents:

? Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze;

? Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it;

? Get vaccinated against both the seasonal flu and H1N1 flu;

? Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze;

? Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are also effective;

? Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way; and

? If you are sick do not return to school or work until you are fever free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications.

The Ohio Department of Health has ordered an additional 219,800 doses of H1N1 vaccine to be shipped to providers? offices around the state, officials said.

E-mail mlehman@bizjournals.com. Call (937) 528-4425.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Warren Co.: Springboro kindergartner with H1N1 dies

Source: http://www.wlwt.com/health/21354836/detail.html

Parents Question Whether Boy Died Of H1N1
Springboro Kindergartner Diagnosed With Virus, Pneumonia

POSTED: 8:03 pm EDT October 20, 2009

SPRINGBORO, Ohio -- The parents of a Springboro boy who died after being diagnosed with H1N1 question whether the virus caused his death.

Joseph Marotta
Officials reported that 5-year-old Joseph Marotta died from complications related to H1N1, but his parents cautioned that a cause of death has not been officially determined pending the results of an autopsy.

"We are deeply saddened over the loss of our precious five-year-old son, Joseph," the boy's parents said in a statement. "Joseph was diagnosed with pneumonia and H1N1 during his 10 days in the hospital, but we do not yet know the exact cause of his death. An autopsy is being performed and the questions surrounding his cause of death will be answered when the autopsy report is complete. We appreciate the outpouring of support we have received from the community and we ask that people respect Joseph?s memory."

The boy's mother told News 5's Karin Johnson that Joseph became ill Oct. 2 while riding a school bus to Clearcreek Elementary, where he was a kindergartner, and was lethargic when he came back home.

His parents took him to a doctor, who admitted Joseph to a hospital where he initially tested negative for H1N1 before contracting pneumonia and then testing positive for the virus.

Joseph died Sunday, and health officials attributed his death to respiratory failure, saying the boy had pre-existing breathing troubles.

His mother said Joseph had asthma, but that his case was mild and caused only some wheezing when he became sick.

Dayton Children's Hospital would conduct any further investigation on Joseph's death, and the boy's mother said autopsy results won't be known for 60 days.

 

[Chuck]

Re: Warren Co.: Springboro kindergartner with H1N1 dies

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news...ng-until-minutes-before-his-death-359684.html


Mom says son was alert, talking until minutes before his death
Springboro boy?s death leaves family with questions.

Joseph J. Marotta, the 5-year-old Springboro boy who died on Sunday, Oct. 18, at Children's Medical Center of Dayton.
Submitted photo Joseph J. Marotta, the 5-year-old Springboro boy who died on Sunday, Oct. 18, at Children's Medical Center of Dayton.

By Lawrence Budd, Staff Writer Updated 1:05 AM Thursday, October 22, 2009

SPRINGBORO ? Although he awoke with a sniffle and cough, Joseph Marotta went to kindergarten on Friday, Oct. 9.

The next day he was in intensive care.

Serese Marotta said during the next nine days, her son?s condition fluctuated but he was alert and talking until minutes before his death.

?They thought he was having an asthma attack,? she said. ?(Death) was something we never saw coming.?

Joseph became ill on the way home from Clearcreek Elementary on Oct. 9, his mother recalled Wednesday. At their family doctor?s direction, Joseph was taken that night to an urgent care center in Springboro, then transported by ambulance to Children?s Medical Center of Dayton, where he was admitted to the intensive-care unit, Marotta said.

While sensitive to triggering a public outcry, Marotta wondered why so many children are dying when health officials had months to prepare.

?I don?t want the community freaking out about H1N1,? she said. ?It?s going to become an epidemic. More people are going to die.?

Hospital officials de-
clined to comment on Joseph?s case or his mother?s comments. The CDC didn?t respond to requests for comment.

According to the Mar-
ottas, their son initially tested positive for pneumonia, but negative for seasonal flu and H1N1, at the hospital. He never tested positive for the seasonal flu, and it was several days before a culture indicated the boy had H1N1, she said.

The family said Joseph?s condition fluctuated during his hospital stay; his lungs often sounding relatively strong until Sunday, Oct. 18.

?Everything failed on that poor boy?s body,? she said.

On Monday, Oct. 19, Warren County health officials initially noted Joseph had tested positive for H1N1, but reported he died due to ?respiratory complications.?

Now, officials say they will need a report from doctors at the hospital before officially determining the cause of death. Hospital officials say it could take eight weeks to get results from the autopsy.

?The long and the short of it is, we don?t know what happened,? Marotta said.

On Wednesday, the Joseph James Marotta Fund was set up at the National City Bank, 1490 W. Dorothy Lane in Kettering.

Visitation will be 5 to 8 p.m., today, Oct. 22, at the Anderson Funeral Home, 40 N. Main St. in Springboro. The funeral will be at 11 a.m., Friday, Oct. 23, at the Riverside Baptist Church, 7237 Martz-Paulin Road in Franklin.

Besides his mother, Joseph is survived by his father, Joseph, and a sister, Emily, a second-grader at Five Points West Elementary.

The family remembered Joseph as a sweet, kind boy who loved to play with Legos and toy cars.

?We want his memory to always be with us,? his mother said.

Contact this reporter at lbudd@
DaytonDailyNews.com.