Mother of 4 is fourth Kern County A/H1N1 flu death

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/63642162.html

Mother of 4 is fourth Kern County swine flu death

Story Created: Oct 6, 2009 at 5:19 PM PDT

Story Updated: Oct 6, 2009 at 6:05 PM PDT
By Betsy Lambert, Eyewitness News
Video
Elizabeth Faz, 33, was battling the flu for about a month before dying Monday night at Kern Medical Center. She was eight-months pregnant when doctors delivered her baby via cesarean section in September because of complications from the virus.

"She never came out of it," said Faz' mother, Lupe Gonzales.

At first, Gonzales said she didn't believe her daughter when she called from the hospital. But when she went to see her, everything became a reality. Within just a few weeks, her daughter was gone.

"H1N1, it's not no game," Gonzales said. "It just walks all over you. It just takes over your body, and I just wish it didn't take over my daughter's body."

According to Faz' family, she contracted pneumonia after catching swine flu, and they said that could have contributed to her death.

Faz leaves behind a four children. Two of her children are with their grandmother, the baby is in foster care and one other child is with the father.

[Pathfinder]

Re: Mother of 4 is fourth Kern County A/H1N1 flu death

Flu death a cautionary tale for pregnant women

BY STEVEN MAYER, Californian staff writer
Saturday, Oct 10 2009 12:00 PM


Baby Girl doesn't have a real name because her mother didn't live long enough to give her one.

Elizabeth Faz, 33, of Bakersfield, died from complications related to the H1N1 flu virus on Monday, just weeks after giving birth to her still unnamed daughter.

She never had the chance to hold her baby to her chest, to bond with her, not even to name her.

That's because Faz was suffering from severe flu symptoms and their complications in the days leading up to and following her emergency caesarean section Sept. 14.

She never recovered.

Faz is the fifth person to die in Kern County as a result of the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu. And the tragedy of her death should be a cautionary tale for all pregnant women, warn public health officials. That's because expectant mothers are much more vulnerable to serious complications related to the virus than are others.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pregnant women are six times more likely to die of the disease than the general population.

Mothers who may be reluctant to be vaccinated out of concern for their unborn children should know that the flu is a much more dangerous risk than the vaccine, said Denise Smith, the assistant director of disease control for the Kern County Department of Public Health.

"We are highly encouraging pregnant women to get the activated vaccine that will be available later this month," Smith said. "They are at the top of the priority list."

Unfortunately, the H1N1 vaccine is arriving too late for Faz, who was otherwise a healthy young woman, said her mother, Lupe Gonzales.

"My poor babies. It hasn't hit me yet," Gonzales said, fighting back tears. "Nobody expected this."

Besides the newborn, Faz is survived by a 16-year-old son who lives with his father and his family. Gonzales currently takes care of 1-year-old Adrian and 2-year-old Hazeline.

Baby Girl, as the family refers to the newborn, remains in temporary foster care, though Gonzales said she expects to be able to visit the little girl for the first time this weekend.

A funeral service is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Bakersfield. And a donation fund to help with costs has been set up at Kern Schools Federal Credit Union, Gonzales said.

Faz's uncle, Salvador Garcia, said his niece was in quarantine at Kern Medical Center for about a week. During that time, he and other family members could only see Faz through a window.

Later, she was released from quarantine, but remained in intensive care. They could visit her if they wore surgical-style gowns and gloves.

"I don't think she knew who I was," he remembered. "She was on a ventilator and she was sedated."

But Gonzales believes her daughter squeezed her hand in a brief moment of awareness.

One of the most difficult things for family and friends is simply this: no one saw it coming. It was only a case of the flu.

"This is really bad. Everyone is hurt," Garcia said. "We are just shocked."

Meanwhile, innocent children require daily loving care from their grandmother, who is left to take on the duty of a young mom.

"They're mine now," Gonzales said of the two toddlers. "Elizabeth left me something beautiful. But I would rather have my daughter here with us."

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x544699803/Flu-death-a-cautionary-tale-for-pregnant-women