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Source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/6683589.html
In just 10 days, swine flu killed young man
Family stunned as runny nose leads to hospital, then death for 33-year-old
By CINDY GEORGE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Oct. 23, 2009, 11:01PM
John Michael Lee was a dedicated financial advisor, energetic youth minister and selfless community volunteer.
Since childhood, the 33-year-old struggled with ear and upper respiratory infections. He'd already fought an assumed flu bug earlier this year with over-the-counter medications because a layoff left him uninsured.
But what started as a runny nose on Oct. 7 progressed into a serious illness that killed him 10 days later.
“We don't understand it,” said his mother, Sandi Lee-Gray, weeping. “It was the swine flu.”
In most people, the H1N1 virus causes a mild upper respiratory infection. Lee's death illustrates how swine flu can kill a relatively healthy person.
His death mirrors trends that define the 2009 Novel H1N1 virus. For one, it remains a young person's disease.
In Houston, all but one of the H1N1-related deaths confirmed by the city health department have been children and young adults. Most reported H1N1 deaths in the metro area and statewide have been people younger than 50. Those with underlying health conditions are most at risk.
Lee regained medical coverage this month through his new job with MetLife. When he started coughing on Oct. 7, his mother prodded him to go to the doctor.
Two days later, a physician diagnosed H1N1 and prescribed Tamiflu plus antibiotics.
Progressively worsens
Lee-Gray begged her oldest son to convalesce at her home, but knowing H1N1 is highly contagious, he worried about passing the infection to his diabetic stepfather or to his mother, who might sicken her third- and fourth-grade students. “He always thought of others before himself,” Lee-Gray said.
For the next five days, Lee was alone in his Houston apartment. Loved ones thought he was improving because he continued to update his Facebook page and check voicemails.
On Oct. 14, Lee gasped for air as he spoke on the phone, and his mother feared he wasn't improving. The next day, Lee was in the hospital.
“It was going to be an overnight stay,” Lee-Gray said. “He told me he loved me and that he was tired.
“I never talked to my son again.”
Just after midnight on Oct. 16, Lee was placed in intensive care. Two hours later, he needed a ventilator. By 6 a.m., dialysis. Later that day, bacterial pneumonia was attacking his organs.
“The doctor said he'd never seen a child this sick that survived and that we needed a miracle,” Lee-Gray said.
The one last medical hope was a highly powerful intravenous drip. Five hours into the treatment, Lee still wasn't better.
“I sent everyone home and battled in prayer for him all night,” the soft-spoken Lee-Gray said.
Lee slipped away on Oct. 17.
A spokeswoman for West Houston Medical Center, where Lee died, declined to discuss his case, citing privacy laws.
Lee-Gray agonizes over what she could have done differently . “Maybe if I had gotten him to the doctor sooner and hydrated him,” she said. “If you're not feeling better, you need to see your doctor.”
Lee's death also demonstrates the potential danger of delayed flu vaccine. Federal shipments are 100 million doses behind predictions for late October. As of Wednesday, just 11.3 million doses had been sent to U.S. communities. In Texas, young children, pregnant women and health workers have priority for the limited quantities. Lee had not had a seasonal or H1N1 vaccine.
Two flu patterns
Since the beginning of the H1N1 pandemic this summer, more than 1,000 people have died and more than 20,000 have been hospitalized in the U.S. Seasonal flu causes about 36,000 deaths and sends more than 200,000 people to hospitals.
Dr. Luis Ostrosky, an associate professor of infectious diseases at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, said fatal flu cases this year generally have followed two patterns:
• • A moderate-to-severe illness that improves slightly, then declines with a secondary infection — typically post-influenza pneumonia. Flu infections progress this way every year.
• • In a new twist, a very small number of healthy young people and pregnant women get an aggressive H1N1 infection from the very beginning, which lands patients in intensive care within 48 hours.
“Make sure you get vaccinated,” Ostrosky said. “Make sure you go see your doctor at the first suspicion of infection. Follow your doctor's instructions to the letter. Look for warning signs of severe influenza or post-influenza pneumonia.”
And if you're diagnosed with the flu, “ it's really important to have some down time to take care of yourself,” he said.
cindy.george@chron.com
INSET:
TRAGIC TIMELINE
John Michael Lee's fatal flu illness began with cold symptoms but progressed to failing organs and bacterial pneumonia.
• Oct. 7: Lee gets a runny nose
• Oct. 9: Lee becomes very ill with diarrhea; a doctor diagnoses H1N1
• Oct. 9-14: Lee opts to convalesce alone in his Houston apartment
• Oct. 14: Lee shows no improvement after five days of treatment with Tamiflu and antibiotics; gasps for air when he speaks
• Oct. 15: He returns to the doctor severely dehydrated with low blood pressure; he's admitted to the hospital with acute kidney disease
• Oct. 16: Lee is diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia, placed on dialysis and doesn't improve with a highly powerful treatment
• Oct. 17: Lee dies at West Houston Medical Center
Source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/6683589.html
In just 10 days, swine flu killed young man
Family stunned as runny nose leads to hospital, then death for 33-year-old
By CINDY GEORGE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Oct. 23, 2009, 11:01PM
John Michael Lee was a dedicated financial advisor, energetic youth minister and selfless community volunteer.
Since childhood, the 33-year-old struggled with ear and upper respiratory infections. He'd already fought an assumed flu bug earlier this year with over-the-counter medications because a layoff left him uninsured.
But what started as a runny nose on Oct. 7 progressed into a serious illness that killed him 10 days later.
“We don't understand it,” said his mother, Sandi Lee-Gray, weeping. “It was the swine flu.”
In most people, the H1N1 virus causes a mild upper respiratory infection. Lee's death illustrates how swine flu can kill a relatively healthy person.
His death mirrors trends that define the 2009 Novel H1N1 virus. For one, it remains a young person's disease.
In Houston, all but one of the H1N1-related deaths confirmed by the city health department have been children and young adults. Most reported H1N1 deaths in the metro area and statewide have been people younger than 50. Those with underlying health conditions are most at risk.
Lee regained medical coverage this month through his new job with MetLife. When he started coughing on Oct. 7, his mother prodded him to go to the doctor.
Two days later, a physician diagnosed H1N1 and prescribed Tamiflu plus antibiotics.
Progressively worsens
Lee-Gray begged her oldest son to convalesce at her home, but knowing H1N1 is highly contagious, he worried about passing the infection to his diabetic stepfather or to his mother, who might sicken her third- and fourth-grade students. “He always thought of others before himself,” Lee-Gray said.
For the next five days, Lee was alone in his Houston apartment. Loved ones thought he was improving because he continued to update his Facebook page and check voicemails.
On Oct. 14, Lee gasped for air as he spoke on the phone, and his mother feared he wasn't improving. The next day, Lee was in the hospital.
“It was going to be an overnight stay,” Lee-Gray said. “He told me he loved me and that he was tired.
“I never talked to my son again.”
Just after midnight on Oct. 16, Lee was placed in intensive care. Two hours later, he needed a ventilator. By 6 a.m., dialysis. Later that day, bacterial pneumonia was attacking his organs.
“The doctor said he'd never seen a child this sick that survived and that we needed a miracle,” Lee-Gray said.
The one last medical hope was a highly powerful intravenous drip. Five hours into the treatment, Lee still wasn't better.
“I sent everyone home and battled in prayer for him all night,” the soft-spoken Lee-Gray said.
Lee slipped away on Oct. 17.
A spokeswoman for West Houston Medical Center, where Lee died, declined to discuss his case, citing privacy laws.
Lee-Gray agonizes over what she could have done differently . “Maybe if I had gotten him to the doctor sooner and hydrated him,” she said. “If you're not feeling better, you need to see your doctor.”
Lee's death also demonstrates the potential danger of delayed flu vaccine. Federal shipments are 100 million doses behind predictions for late October. As of Wednesday, just 11.3 million doses had been sent to U.S. communities. In Texas, young children, pregnant women and health workers have priority for the limited quantities. Lee had not had a seasonal or H1N1 vaccine.
Two flu patterns
Since the beginning of the H1N1 pandemic this summer, more than 1,000 people have died and more than 20,000 have been hospitalized in the U.S. Seasonal flu causes about 36,000 deaths and sends more than 200,000 people to hospitals.
Dr. Luis Ostrosky, an associate professor of infectious diseases at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, said fatal flu cases this year generally have followed two patterns:
• • A moderate-to-severe illness that improves slightly, then declines with a secondary infection — typically post-influenza pneumonia. Flu infections progress this way every year.
• • In a new twist, a very small number of healthy young people and pregnant women get an aggressive H1N1 infection from the very beginning, which lands patients in intensive care within 48 hours.
“Make sure you get vaccinated,” Ostrosky said. “Make sure you go see your doctor at the first suspicion of infection. Follow your doctor's instructions to the letter. Look for warning signs of severe influenza or post-influenza pneumonia.”
And if you're diagnosed with the flu, “ it's really important to have some down time to take care of yourself,” he said.
cindy.george@chron.com
INSET:
TRAGIC TIMELINE
John Michael Lee's fatal flu illness began with cold symptoms but progressed to failing organs and bacterial pneumonia.
• Oct. 7: Lee gets a runny nose
• Oct. 9: Lee becomes very ill with diarrhea; a doctor diagnoses H1N1
• Oct. 9-14: Lee opts to convalesce alone in his Houston apartment
• Oct. 14: Lee shows no improvement after five days of treatment with Tamiflu and antibiotics; gasps for air when he speaks
• Oct. 15: He returns to the doctor severely dehydrated with low blood pressure; he's admitted to the hospital with acute kidney disease
• Oct. 16: Lee is diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia, placed on dialysis and doesn't improve with a highly powerful treatment
• Oct. 17: Lee dies at West Houston Medical Center
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