| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Young mom's death exposes H1N1 dangers |
| 2009-10-31 |
| 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. |
| Posted by:JohnQC |
| #10 Barbara, could you get a small fan, battery operated if necessary, and orient it so that there's a gentle breeze pushing air away from your face? Amazon and other online places sell these. I know the margin on crafts but if you can spend the $16 or so plus shipping, it might help keep the droplets that transmit the virus from reaching you when browsers / customers lean in over your stock. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-10-31 22:26 |
| #9 and I generally keep away from coughing people anyway. Posted by: Barbara Skolaut .....I'm coughing a bit. Sinus thing I suspect, but I generaly avoid craft fairs. Just returned from dinner at the Kirby House in Abilene. The prime rib was superb. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-10-31 22:09 |
| #8 Thanks for the info, lotp. My biggest concern (if it is a concern) is a large craft fair I'm doing for 4 days next week. Tens of thousands of people will come through the place, and thousands of then will come through my booth. I'll use my hand sanitizer, of course, since money is so filthy, and I generally keep away from coughing people anyway. I know this sounds stupid, but I tend to occasionally put hand sanitizer up my nose when around a lot of people. It probably doesn't do anything. Not much else I can do, I guess. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-10-31 22:03 |
| #7 There's some evidence that H1N1 may spread more easily through the air than through touch .... if a serious outbreak occurs in your area, wearing masks in public (as do the Japanese) would be prudent. Don't reuse them - once you return home discard the one you're wearing and use a clean one when you go out again. At a distance, the basic and inexpensive surgical masks help a bit. The N95 grade masks are uncomfortable to wear for a long time and are more expensive. But if you're caring for someone who becomes seriously ill with this strain, do consider N95 grade masks and disposable gloves. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-10-31 19:56 |
| #6 A six-year-old girl without underlying illness died of H1N1 in the next county over. They closed schools for a week to clean them and the busses (and because so many kids and teachers were out sick). I think the disease may have affected the girl's lungs; her mother was interviewed on the TV and talked about watching her struggle to breath. Very sad. Shots aren't available here (central Virginia) to normal people. They were giving them in some elementary schools but ran out early (didn't get as many doses as they ordered). I think health care people in the area have gotten the vaccination, but am not sure. I've stocked up on hand sanitizer, but I do that anyway. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-10-31 13:48 |
| #5 /sarc Hope nobody gets the wrong idea from that comment. It just seems like sometimes when things get bad the next thing that happens is they get worse. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2009-10-31 12:52 |
| #4 Why just have a recession when you can have a deadly flu epidemic along with it? |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2009-10-31 12:50 |
| #3 The fluoroquinolones, such as Cipro and Levaquin, etc. all carry risks of tendon rupture. People have to balance the risk of tendon rupture with perhaps fatal complications from this flu. Older people don't seem to be so much at risk for H1N1 perhaps because of a immunity acquired during swine flu bouts in the 1950s and 1970s. The vaccine is not available in our area (East Tennessee) so far as I know. Even physicians who I know have not been inoculated at this date. The woman who died in middle Tennessee had a nine month old child. Her immune system might have been compromised as the result of lack of sleep and other possible factors which might affect her immune system. Here, we have had school nurse and a man in his late 40s die from H1N1 complications. Does anyone know how effective the antiviral Tamiflu is? I understand it helps if administered early. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2009-10-31 12:34 |
| #2 Important mention to doctors if family members get sick. 1) Give patient Avelox against secondary bacterial infection. (Important: odd potential side effects) http://www.rxlist.com/avelox-drug.htm 2) Be prepared to provide external blood oxygenation. Ventilation may not be enough, as lung impairment is in many cases preventing absorption of oxygen. XBO is saving lives. 3) Lung damage is often not seen on X-Rays, but is seen on CT scans, so do not rely on X-Ray diagnosis. 4) Primary at risk groups are infants and very young children; children of all ages with chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes; older and healthy children who have recently been involved with aerobic exercise, going dangerously acute one day later; pregnant women; the elderly at risk for pneumonia. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-10-31 07:43 |
| #1 My area has only received a fraction of the promised doses. The vaccine is just not available here...to the healthy or to those with underlying health problems. Mmmmmm. Mmmmmm. Mmmmmm. |
| Posted by: Woozle Uneter9007 2009-10-31 02:31 |