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Post by Joanna on Jan 25, 2018 21:20:07 GMT -5
Flu Symptoms Escalate Rapidly, Kill QuicklyIt started with a cold, and then it turned deadly. The grieving family of Dylan Winnik of West Palm Beach, Florida, is in shock after their 12-year old son died Tuesday from complications related to the flu. Dylan’s family said cold symptoms developed just a day after the 7th-grader attended a birthday party on Sunday, according to a report from Local10 News. By Tuesday, his condition worsened and a neighbor called 911. When sheriff’s deputies arrived at the home, Dylan was dead. Mike Medwi told the Palm Beach Post the boy had not gotten a flu shot.
Last Friday, the CDC reported that 30 children have died so far this season from flu-related illness compared to eight at this time last year. These numbers are expected to rise at Friday’s weekly briefing, with more kids’ flu-related deaths having been reported in the past days.
Dr. Margarita Rohr of New York University Langone Health told Fox News the most common form of flu being reported this season, Influenza A (H3N2), “is particularly worrisome as symptoms tend to escalate rapidly, especially in children and older adults. The short duration time, from the diagnosis of flu with onset of symptoms leading rapidly to death may be attributed to the particular strain of virus we are currently facing.”
CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald told Reuters that 85 percent of the children who die from the flu likely have not been vaccinated. While the vaccine does not guarantee a patient won’t get influenza, experts say data suggests the vaccinations can render the flu milder.
Meanwhile people across the country are reacting to the daily drip of new stories of children and apparently healthy adults dying from the flu. Little 6-year-old Emily Muth of Cary, North Carolina, was diagnosed with the flu last Tuesday and died three days later.
Family and friends were shocked by the news of Tandy Harmon, a 36-year-old mother in Oregon, who died just two days after she was diagnosed.
And Lily Kershaw, 5, died of flu-related complications on January 21, the first child to die from the flu in Nebraska this year, according to health officials.
While the spate of sudden deaths is frightening and tragic, there could be relief on the horizon. Fitzgerald said the CDC’s “surveillance systems show that nationally the flu season may be peaking now,” but cautioned “we know from past experience that it will take many more weeks for flu activity to truly slow down.”
To protect yourself, wash your hands frequently, cover your mouth when you cough and limit contact with others who may be sick. And if you haven’t gotten the flu shot yet, physicians are urging people to get them.
A total of 110 children died during the 2016-2017 season. The CDC estimates since 2010, the average range of influenza hospitalizations has been between 140,000 and 710,000 cases. The flu causes between 12,000 and 56,000 deaths in a typical year. Source: Madeline Dadourian, Fox News, January 25, 2018.
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Post by kitty on Jan 27, 2018 2:39:28 GMT -5
Didn't it take months for the Spanish flu of 1918 to become deadly?
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Post by Graveyardbride on Jan 27, 2018 16:02:11 GMT -5
Didn't it take months for the Spanish flu of 1918 to become deadly? Yes. When the epidemic started in the spring of 1918, it was relatively mild with the usual chills, fever and joint aches. But over the next few months, it mutated and by the fall, people were dying within hours, their lungs filling with fluid, causing them to literally drown. Doctors who autopsied some of the victims found that when their lungs were placed in water, they were so heavy with fluids that they sank immediately -- normal lungs float. It was during the fall and winter of 1918 and into the spring of 1919, that so many people were dying there were no coffins or anyone to dig the graves. By the summer of 1919, the epidemic was over because those the most susceptible had died and others had become immune. But the flu did have a positive effect because it practically wiped out tuberculosis; those whose lungs were compromised by TB were particularly susceptible to the flu and died.
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Post by chris on Jan 27, 2018 18:02:29 GMT -5
So what would happen if this year's flu mutated into a killer flu? Could modern medicine control it?
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Post by catherine on Jan 27, 2018 18:28:28 GMT -5
The Spanish flu epidemic started in 1918, it's now 2018. History could be repeating itself.
Shouldn't this subject be in "Death, Dying & Graveyards"?
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Post by Joanna on Jan 27, 2018 19:44:14 GMT -5
The Spanish flu epidemic started in 1918, it's now 2018. History could be repeating itself.
Shouldn't this subject be in "Death, Dying & Graveyards"?
Okay, I've moved it.
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Post by Graveyardbride on Jan 27, 2018 20:06:00 GMT -5
Flu Continues to Spread in US
The flu is continuing to hospitalize people around the country and federal officials warn it could get worse. “Hopefully we’re in the peak currently, since the data is a week behind, or that it peaks soon. Regardless, there is a lot of flu activity happening across the country and likely many more weeks to come,” CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund told CNN.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) weekly flu report, seven more children have died from the flu bringing the nationwide count to 37. “A total of 37 influenza-associated pediatric deaths have been reported for the 2017-2018 season,” the CDC reports.
Since October, there have been 11,965 laboratory-confirmed flu-related hospitalizations, according to the CDC. This year’s flu is also significant because it seems to be more widespread than in previous years. The CDC tweeted that this is the first time in 15 years that “all states in the entire continental U.S. have reported widespread flu activity during the same week.”
Some lawmakers are taking action to combat the flu. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order allowing pharmacists to administer flu shots. “With flu cases reaching epidemic proportions in New York, we must do everything in our power to fight this virus and keep New Yorkers safe,” Cuomo said in a statement. “Once again, I urge all New Yorkers to help us combat this quick-spreading strain of flu and make sure they and their loved ones are vaccinated.”
In early December, health officials anticipated this season would be particularly bad nationwide since it was starting earlier than in previous years. “Flu is picking up and picking up early,” Daniel Jernigan, director of the influenza division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Washington Post. “A lot of people are getting together in the next few days and weeks. All of those folks who are traveling, some of them will be traveling with their influenza.”
The CDC continues to warn people that it’s not too late to get a flu vaccination. However, a number of people, including, but not limited to, Kiera Driscoll, 5; Amber Grey, 14; Kristie Green, 37, Ayzlee McCarthy, 3; Katherine McQuestion, 26; and Chad Rattray, 37; died of influenza despite having been vaccinated.
Source: Nicole Karlis, Salon, January 27, 2018; ProgressiveHealth; and RealPharmacy.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Jan 28, 2018 18:53:06 GMT -5
We all had it here during Christmas. We were all sick for about 10 days. I didn't get the fever part, but my daughter and husband did and were very sick. I felt like crap, but being the most healthy of all of us, I had to take care of everyone else.
My daughter had a concert at Christmas she had to play in, the biggest concert of the year for her orchestra. So we medicated up and went. Everyone there was sick, including the staff.
It was scary to see how it might still be possible to have a killer flu epidemic like the ones they had in history. This one just spread like fire.
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Post by pat on Jan 29, 2018 19:41:13 GMT -5
Yes. When the epidemic started in the spring of 1918, it was relatively mild with the usual chills, fever and joint aches. But over the next few months, it mutated and by the fall, people were dying within hours, their lungs filling with fluid, causing them to literally drown. Doctors who autopsied some of the victims found that when their lungs were placed in water, they were so heavy with fluids that they sank immediately -- normal lungs float. It was during the fall and winter of 1918 and into the spring of 1919, that so many people were dying there were no coffins or anyone to dig the graves. By the summer of 1919, the epidemic was over because those the most susceptible had died and others had become immune. But the flu did have a positive effect because it practically wiped out tuberculosis; those whose lungs were compromised by TB were particularly susceptible to the flu and died. Senior citizens are always warned about the flu, that they are more likely to get the flu and die from it than young people. But that wasn't true of the Spanish flu. Was that because people who had lived to be in their 60's didn't have TB?
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Post by natalie on Jan 31, 2018 17:36:17 GMT -5
I heard that Florida is the leading state in deaths from the flu this season.
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Post by Graveyardbride on Feb 3, 2018 21:49:58 GMT -5
Aussie Flu Kills Two Georgia Children
Eli Snook’s parents didn’t want to take any risks when their 5-year-old son spiked a high fever and showed other signs of the flu. They took him to an urgent care center in Marietta, Georgia, where a doctor gave him antibiotics and prescribed Tamiflu, his parents told WSB-TV.
After spending about a week resting and taking his medication, Snook appeared to be better and his parents took him back to day care. Three days later, on January 27, they were called to pick him up early because he had a 101° temperature. Again, they took him to the walk-in clinic and doctors ran tests that indicated he did not have the flu, but told his parents they were concerned about a rash they noticed. Because of the combination of a fever and rash, doctors transferred the boy to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where he died February 3, 2018, from a brain infection that had developed while he had the flu. Doctors told Snook’s parents the flu weakened his immune system and a virus “quickly attacked” his brain.
“We prayed for a miracle,” Snook’s father, Aaron, told WSB-TV. “He got an infection in the brain. His brain swelled past the point of no return and he went brain dead.”
Flu Causes Hives. A mother in Blair, Nebraska, recently warned in a Facebook post that parents should be on the lookout for rashes, specifically hives, which she says her son developed before testing positive for Influenza B. “He had no symptoms. No fever, no cough, and no runny nose. He only [had] hives. Please keep watch on your children so if they develop hives ... call your pediatrician,” wrote Brodi Willard, a registered nurse.
While the American Academy of Dermatology says allergic reactions or infections could be a cause of hives, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not list hives as a common flu symptom. However, the agency does say a fever with a rash is an “emergency warning sign” of a flu-related illness.
Flu Leads to Liver Failure Three days later, Kira Molina, a 15-year-old girl, died from the flu in Coweta County. Richard Hawk, the county coroner, confirmed the teen passed away from Influenza A on Tuesday, January 30, following liver failure.
The healthy 15-year-old began to feel ill on Thursday, January 25, and was taken to the doctor. A test for the flu came back negative and she was sent home. According to Hawk, the Newnan High School student was still feeling ill on January 27, but continued to go about her daily routine. It wasn’t until Sunday, January 28, that her parents found her unresponsive and the teen was flown to Piedmont Newnan Hospital Emergency. Shortly thereafter, she was flown to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, where another flu test showed her to be positive for influenza. Other tests revealed she was suffering liver failure. Two days later, on the morning of January 30, Molina succumbed to liver failure due to the flu, Hawk added, adding that her death was not caused by an overdose of Tylenol (acetaminophen). “[The flu] can get into the liver, by that acetaminophen or Tylenol is filtered out through the liver, and it can cause the liver function not to work well and that causes your acetaminophen level to rise.”
Flu Test Not Always Accurate. When questioned about Molina’s false flu test, he said he has found that most tests are done rapidly, making them around 63% accurate. “That means about one in three tests is going to have a false positive,” he said.
During a press conference on Wednesday, The Georgia Department of Public Health said there have been 37 confirmed flu-related deaths in the state and the number is expected to rise. The department said around 84 percent of the deceased are above age 50.
For the first time, downtown Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital has set up a mobile emergency department outside the hospital to handle the overflow of patients.
Sources: Jennifer Earl, Fox News, February 3, 2018, and Savannah Brock, WXIA, February 1, 2018.
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Post by kitty on Feb 4, 2018 0:01:51 GMT -5
Doesn't he mean that one in three tests is going to have a false negative? Both of these dead kids had the flu test and it showed that they didn't have the flu and then it killed them.
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Post by julia on Feb 4, 2018 12:13:05 GMT -5
Senior citizens are always warned about the flu, that they are more likely to get the flu and die from it than young people. But that wasn't true of the Spanish flu. Was that because people who had lived to be in their 60's didn't have TB? People who lived to be in their 50s and beyond usually didn't have TB and because their lungs weren't compromised, they were less likely to develop pneumonia and that was one of the reasons. But another is that they had been exposed to an influenza strain when younger that rendered them immune to Spanish flu. There are reports from 1918-19 of everyone in a household being bedridden with the flu, with the exception of a grandmother or grandfather who nursed other family members.
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Post by Graveyardbride on Feb 7, 2018 5:39:30 GMT -5
Texas Man Loses Feet and Fingers to Flu
FORT WORTH, Tex. – Brian Herndon, 51, was diagnosed with the flu on January 4, admitted to a Fort Worth hospital the following day with pneumonia and quickly went into septic shock. The husband and father of two was airlifted to Baylor Hospital in Dallas on January 6 where he has been for the past four weeks, most of that time intubated and in and out of consciousness.
Now, both his feet and nine of his fingers have been amputated. Physicians knew they had to amputate when they couldn’t detect a pulse in either of the patient's feet, where he had developed disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, a condition that creates clots and affects blood flow.
Herndon spoke with WFAA via Skype from his hospital room Sunday and in a voice just above a whisper shared what the last month has been like “One minute you’ve got the flu and the next minute you’re septic,” he said.
“This flu is serious business,” Herdon’s wife Jaye told the Star-Telegram. “People need to pay attention to it. Do not send your kids to school with a fever. We have to help each other out. Not everyone’s body deals with the flu like maybe yours does.” According to Mrs. Herdon, who is a nurse by profession, her husband had no underlying medical conditions that would make him more susceptible to anything more than typical flu symptoms like high fever and aches. “He had a 104.7 temperature right away,” she said. “And then he had trouble breathing. We didn’t wait, we went to the ER. It was that quick. Right now I’m still in ‘whatever he needs mode,” she continued. “That’s what you’re focused on and then you trade out with a family member and you go home and take care of the kids.” She hopes he will be able to move to a rehabilitation stage of recovery in the coming weeks, but for now, it’s still day by day.
Sources: David Goins, WTSP, February 6, 2018, and Matthew Martinez, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 6, 2018.
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Post by kitty on Feb 7, 2018 10:33:30 GMT -5
This flu just keeps getting worse. Now it's causing people to have their body parts amputated!
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