San Antonio: Mom says swine flu contributed to teen son's death

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Source: http://www.woai.com/content/health/s...0XKO03b6A.cspx


Mom says swine flu contributed to teen son's death
Reported by: Erik Runge
Email: ErikRunge@woaitv.com
Reported by: Kristina De Leon
Last Update: 5:36 pm

Mother shares her grief over her son's death
Alfie was sent home from school with a sore throat.

SAN ANTONIO -- A San Antonio mother says doctors told her the swine flu was a contributing factor in her teenage son's death.

Her son, 14-year-old Alfie Watson, passed away last weekend at Methodist Children's Hospital.

"Alfie was an excellent, excellent person," mom Demeshia Watson told News 4 WOAI as tears welled in her eyes. "Just beautiful, inside and out, inside and out."

So far, doctors at the Methodist Children's Hospital have not confirmed Alfie had swine flu. But his mother said doctors told her H1N1 did contribute to his death.

Alfie was sent home from school last Friday with a sore throat. Demeshia thought her son was getting better, but he only got worse. When the Zachary Middle School student arrived at the hospital, his mom said he had pneumonia.

"As a mother, you're helpless," Demeshia said as she cried. "You know, there's nothing that you can do. And mothers always do whatever they can for their kids."

Demeshia Watson had to watch as her young son died.

"He did go into cardiac arrest twice," explained Demeshia. "But my son, he was very strong. He was a very strong young man."

Alfie Watson **** on for a few hours after being put on a ventilator, but his body was not strong enough to overcome his illnesses. His mom says doctors told her Alfie had swine flu and pneumonia. His body went into shock and his organs shut down.

"He never was able to wake up or anything," Demeshia said as she cried. "It's just hard to know that you walk into the hospital with one child, and you don't walk out with that child."

Demeshia Watson says doctors told her it was toxic shock syndrome that killed her son, and the swine flu contributed to his death.

"Just take it day-by-day," added Demeshia. "And with the lord's help, I should be able to make it."

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Re: San Antonio: Mom says swine flu contributed to teen son's death

Source: http://www.ksat.com/news/21104261/detail.html

Teen Dies Of Swine Flu Complications
Victim Identified As Alfie Green

POSTED: Thursday, September 24, 2009
UPDATED: 2:46 pm CDT September 24, 2009
SAN ANTONIO -- A 14-year-old boy died of complications association with swine flu, the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office said Thursday.

The victim, Alfie Green, attended Zachry Middle School in the Northside Independent School District.

Alfie had the flu for a couple of weeks and then he developed pneumonia and other complications.

He had no other health problems prior to contracting swine flu.

Alfie died at Methodist Hospital.

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Re: San Antonio: Mom says swine flu contributed to teen son's death

Source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/health/61401142.html


Web Posted: 09/25/2009 12:00 CDT
Swine flu cases expected to rise

By Don Finley - Express-News

Swine flu is raging through San Antonio schools at rates that surpass even the peak of bad flu seasons in normal times, and cases will likely continue to rise for several weeks, health officials said Thursday.

With patients threatening to overwhelm clinics and emergency rooms and no vaccine expected until mid-October, parents are being advised in most cases to let the illness run its course at home.

Dr. Fernando Guerra, director of the Metropolitan Health District, asked school districts this week to temporarily waive the requirement that students bring a note from a doctor after an absence.

?That has been a very unnecessary additional demand on the system,? Guerra said. ?They're going to emergency rooms because the parents can't leave work, and doctors' offices can't handle same-day appointments in many instances.?

Principals at Northside Independent School District were informed Thursday not to require a doctor's note for flu-like illness, said Shirley Schreiber, health services director for the district.

?I've been telling my nurses that for several days,? Shreiber said. ?What's really happening is the health community is trying to get the message out to parents: Don't go to the doctor's office or the emergency room. Talk with your health care provider and try to take care of your child at home.?

To help get that message across, along with other advice for families, Metro Health plans to hold town hall meetings on swine flu in coming weeks.

?I think there's still a considerable element of fear, especially for children,? Guerra said. ?Parents are at times very concerned and will not recognize this to be a self-limiting, relatively minor illness if they can get through the acute phase.?

Symptoms can usually be managed at home. But parents also need to know that if fever persists for several days or a patient has difficulty breathing or symptoms of dehydration, to seek medical attention, Guerra added.

Two Bexar County children have died of swine flu complications in recent days ? a fragile, premature baby and an otherwise healthy 14-year-old middle school student.Ten people have died here since the new flu strain first appeared here in April; three lived outside the county and sought care here.

Guerra also asked some hospitals to consider setting up separate facilities to treat the flu outside emergency rooms, to keep others with serious illness from getting sick. Most emergency rooms now require patients with flu-like symptoms to wear a mask while they wait.

Outside Methodist Children's Hospital, a mobile hospital was raised for testing on Tuesday as officials there consider Guerra's request, spokeswoman JoAnn King said. The temporary hospital belongs to the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council for Trauma, an emergency planning group.

During the summer, more than two-thirds of local people with flu were adults ages 18 to 49. Since school resumed at the end of August, 70 percent now are ages 5 to 17, said Kathy Lawless, virology lab supervisor at the University Health System.

Right now, Lawless said her lab is getting 363 requests a week for flu tests. At the busiest point of the last flu season ? which was busier than most previous seasons ? she was getting 164 test requests. About 46 percent of the tests in recent days have been positive, compared with 36 percent at the peak of the last season.

At Texas MedClinics, which have nine San Antonio locations, business is up 40 percent from two weeks ago, and from the same time last year ? with most of that presumed to be swine flu, said chief operating officer Dr. David Gude.

Gude and local health officials are advising people with flu-like illness not to be tested, as the rapid test used in doctors' offices has a high degree of false negatives and the advice is the same if flu symptoms are present. Only select patients at high risk of complications are being prescribed Tamiflu, an antiviral medicine that can lessen symptoms.

San Antonio firefighters and paramedics also are taking extra precautions. Dispatchers on Tuesday began screening callers for flu-like symptoms using the question, ?Does the patient or anyone in the house/area currently have a fever, cough or sore throat??

If the caller answers yes, first responders are advised to wear a surgical mask, fire department spokeswoman Melissa Sparks said.