Swine flu likely killed Harris Co. Jail inmate- CONFIRMED

[JimO]

Source: http://www.khou.com/news/local/crime...1b66cd3fd.html

Officials: Swine flu likely killed Harris County Jail inmate

06:22 PM CDT on Friday, September 25, 2009

By Rucks Russell / 11 News

HOUSTON?The Harris County Jail is reporting what is believed to be the first confirmed death of an inmate due to the swine flu.

Jail officials told 11 News Friday that an inmate became ill early this week, and was transported to Ben Taub Hospital for treatment. They say Kenney Beckett, 27, died Thursday night from complications related to swine flu. The official cause of death has not been determined.

Jail officials say they do not believe the facility has suffered a widespread outbreak because Beckett was in an isolated area and had little contact with other inmates.

Still, the jail?s chief medical officer has sent a letter to the Texas Department of State Health Services, requesting the jail be placed on a priority list to receive the H1N1 vaccine. The vaccine is expected to become available during the first week of October.

Once the vaccine is received, officials say the plan is to inoculate all inmates and jail personnel.

Beckett had been at the jail for nearly two years on a pending murder charge. He was due to face a judge next on October 24.

[TrishPaak]

Re: Swine flu likely killed Harris County Jail inmate

I am not sure where exactly to post this question. Will pregnant inmates in the TX jails and prisons be on some sort of priority list to get immunized?
Thank you.

[Shiloh]

Re: Swine flu likely killed Harris Co. Jail inmate- CONFIRMED

Source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...s/6657513.html

Harris Co. jail inmate died from swine flu
By MIKE GLENN Copyright 2009 HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Oct. 7, 2009, 8:00PM

A Harris County Jail inmate who was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital died last month as a result of the swine flu virus, Houston health officials confirmed today.

Kenneth Lane Beckett, 27, was complaining of flu-like symptoms, including a high temperature and elevated pulse, on Sept. 21 when jail medical officials ordered him transferred to the hospital.

Beckett remained there until his death three days later. While at the hospital, he tested positive for H1N1, better known as swine flu.

Harris County sheriff's officials said Beckett also had other medical conditions in addition to the swine flu virus.

?That is the only (H1N1) death within our jurisdiction of a City of Houston resident,? said Kathy Barton, with Houston's Department of Health and Human Services.

A Mexico City toddler who died late April at Texas Children's Hospital is no longer being considered a local H1N1 case because the child was not from Houston, Barton said.

?We have had no pediatric (swine flu) deaths in our jurisdiction in the City of Houston,? Barton said.

In late September, jail medical officials sent a letter to the Texas Department of State Health Services, asking to be placed on a priority list for the H1N1 vaccine.

A spokesman for the sheriff's office said the request was not connected to Beckett's death, but because the Harris County Jail processes about 130,000 inmates annually.

mike.glenn@chron.com