Friday, March 9, 2012

Flu strain H3N2 confirmed in Calvert deaths

Hat-tip Flutrackers
By , Friday, March 9, 4:00 PM
Excerpt:

Lou Ruth Blake, 81, died at home March 1, and two of her children, Lowell, 58, and Vanessa, 56, who had cared for her, were hospitalized March 4 and died the next day.

A third child, Elaine, 51, who lived with her mother and had been her main caregiver, was hospitalized March 5 and discharged late Thursday, a MedStar Washington Hopital Center spokeswoman said.

A fifth family member, a sister of Lou Ruth Blake’s, is still at the hospital center but improving, the spokeswoman said.

Lou Ruth Blake had received a seasonal flu vaccination but none of the three adult children received one, Calvert County Health Officer David Rogers has said. This season’s vaccine protects against two strains of influenza A — H3N2 and H1N1 — and influenza B.

State health officials confirmed Friday, as county officials had earlier said they suspected, that the two siblings who died also had a bacterial infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a known and dangerous complication of influenza infection.

[click on title for full article]

No comments: