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**Chuck** · September 2, 2009, 02:15 PM

Re: Modesto Surrogate Mom Dies From H1N1 Swine Flu Virus

Swine flu toll: 5
Pregnant women urged to take precautions

By Ken Carlson | Modesto Bee

Melissia McDaniel made plans to give the baby she was carrying to a couple who would provide a good home.

What she never planned for was getting the H1N1 virus.

McDaniel, 29, of Modesto, died last Wednesday at Memorial Medical Center, six weeks after giving birth to a 7-pound, 3-ounce girl.

Cliff Koen, step-father of Melissa McDaniel, holds a family picture showing Melissa and boyfriend, Steve Burdick Jr. of Modesto, as he shares pictures of swine flu victim, Melissa McDaniel, in Modesto , on Tuesday, September 1, 2009. (DARRYL BUSH/dbush@modbee.com)
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Health officials reported the case Monday as one of the five swine flu fatalities in Stanislaus County since July. The baby did not have the illness and is living with her adoptive parents, McDaniel's family said.

County health officials renewed a call for childbearing women to take precautions against the illness. Pregnant women and children younger than 5 are at higher risk of complications from any flu virus, including H1N1.

The county Health Services Agency sent guidance to health care providers involved with prenatal care and is posting information for pregnant women on its Web site.

Pregnant women with flu symptoms, or those who have been exposed to people with influenza, should notify their doctors and talk with them about antiviral medications, said Cleopathia Moore, associate director of the county agency. Taking prescription antiviral medicines such as Tamiflu is considered safe during pregnancy.

"Pregnant women should be cautious about their environment," Moore said. "They should be careful about being in large crowds where they are likely to be exposed. If there are younger children around, take precautions such as washing their hands and staying away from those who are not well. And when in doubt, they should contact their health care provider."

The H1N1 fatalities in Stanislaus County have included four women — a 29-year-old and a 45-year-old reported Monday and two others ages 21 and 22 — as well as a 37-year-old man. McDaniel is the only one known to have been pregnant.

For McDaniel's family and other loved ones, the silver lining is that her baby is well. She and her boyfriend, Steve Burdick, who live in Modesto's airport neighborhood, had arranged to have a Modesto couple adopt the baby. The child already has a college fund, the family said.

"I feel like she is in really good hands," Burdick said Tuesday. "I am happy with the decision."

Illness hit quickly

According to her family, McDaniel was not visibly ill with the flu before having a C-section July 17. (Her doctors are unable to discuss her case because of patient confidentiality laws.)

After returning home, McDaniel had abdominal pain and a cough, and noticed pus from the surgery wound, said her stepfather, Clifford Koen. She was taken back to Memorial, told everything was normal and discharged, Koen said.

When she woke up the next morning, she was having trouble breathing and had a fever. She was taken to the hospital again.

"She was conscious for maybe two or three days, and then she was in a coma from then on," Koen said. "We went to see her every day, talked with her and told her the things that were going on at home."

Doctors told the family they suspected a variety of illnesses and then a test came back positive for swine flu, the family said. McDaniel also had an underlying heart condition, the family was told.

Her kidneys had failed and her heart was pumping at about 20 percent capacity before she died last week, the family said.

Immune systems weakened

Childbearing women are susceptible to seasonal influenza, and a novel flu virus such as H1N1 puts them at more risk, said Dr. Christian Sandrock, a critical care and contagious disease specialist with the University of California Medical Center in Sacramento. H1N1 is called "novel" because it's new. People lack immunity to it.

In the later stages of pregnancy, women tend to have depressed immune systems. T-cells in the blood, which detect infections and signal white blood cells to attack them, are not working as well and fail to recognize H1N1.

"A more blunted immune response can get overwhelmed by the virus," Sand-rock said.

Pregnant women are more vulnerable if the infection goes deep into the lungs, causing pneumonia. Their bodies seem less able to redirect blood flow from the infected lung tissue, Sandrock said.

McDaniel's family was struggling to come up with money to pay for her funeral. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. today in George Rogers Park near Orville Wright Elementary School.

The Airport Neighbors United resource center has set up a fund for McDaniel's funeral expenses. The center also is telling women in its Healthy Birth Outcomes classes to take precautions for the virus.

"We are reminding our ladies, if they are pregnant and sick, go to the doctor and have yourself checked out," said center director MaryLynn Lebow. "Make sure it's not H1N1."

Bee staff writer Ken Carlson can be reached at kcarlson@modbee.com or 578-2321.

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Modesto Surrogate Mom Dies From H1N1 Swine Flu Virus

Modesto Surrogate Mom Dies From H1N1 Swine Flu Virus

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