Young mom's death exposes H1N1 dangers

THE TENNESSEAN • October 30, 2009

The night before Jamie Loveless got sick, she ate at a little pizza place in Madeira Beach, Fla., with her family. She walked along the boardwalk, visited the shops and had some ice cream.

She had been running a low fever off and on all week, but it seemed like nothing to be concerned about.

Still, when she woke up feeling achy on Friday morning, it seemed like skipping the beach to rest would be best.

Saturday afternoon, Jamie Loveless, 27, was admitted to St. Petersburg General Hospital with pneumonia that doctors said probably developed from the H1N1 virus. The illness attacked her lungs and escalated rapidly.

At 2:30 p.m. Thursday, the mother from Middle Tennessee died, leaving behind her husband, Chris, her 9-month-old son, Gavin, and a lot of disbelief.

"This is the most serious thing I have ever seen," said Mary Loveless, Jamie's mother-in-law. "It's unbelievable to me how quickly it went from a minor cough and fever to completely overwhelming her body.

"It affected her liver, it affected her kidneys, it affected her lungs, and in the end it destroyed her heart."

According to the state health department, Tennessee has had 38 H1N1-related deaths: 29 adults and nine children. That doesn't include residents who died outside of the state. By comparison, about 700 Tennesseans die annually from the seasonal flu.

Flu activity is widespread in 46 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Because H1N1 — also known as swine flu — is a pandemic virus, it can come in waves, off and on, for up to two years.

It is different from the seasonal flu because it hits hardest in younger populations, particularly in children and pregnant women.

While most of the people who have died have had underlying health complications, about 20 percent of H1N1 deaths are in healthy people, according to the CDC.

Autopsies have shown that in cases involving healthy people, the flu often turned into a bacterial pneumonia that led to death.

Hope was short-lived

Mary Loveless said Jamie was a healthy, happy mother and wife. She ate well, took care of herself, and experienced nothing that would indicate that the H1N1 virus would compromise her health.

Two weekends ago, the Lovelesses traveled home to Indiana to visit family. Mary Loveless thinks that's where Jamie picked up the H1N1 virus. None of the family had been vaccinated because it wasn't available.

"A whole bunch of us got sick," Mary Loveless said. "But we just ran a little fever and then we were OK. Except for Jamie."

Chris and Jamie met in Indiana. Both from Mooresville — a town of just over 10,000 — they were high school sweethearts. They went to college together in Michigan, then moved to Tennessee.

The birth of their son inspired new changes, and the couple bought their first home in Nolensville a month ago.