H5N1: Calvert County: Victims had staph as well as influenza A

Via The Washington Post:?3 Md. family members dead in cluster of respiratory illnesses; 2 from flu complications. Excerpt:

Three members of a Calvert County , Md. family died in the past week following respiratory illnesses, two from complications from the flu, according to the chief medical officer at MedStar Washington Hospital Center where a fourth family member is being treated.?

The family was from the Lusby area, according to hospital and county officials, who issued a press release about the investigation into the deaths Tuesday.?

The first case involved an 81-year-old woman who became sick at home around Feb. 23. Her son and two daughters took care of her there, and then developed similar upper respiratory symptoms five days later, on Feb. 28, health officials said.?

The mother became sick with classic flu symptoms and also had other underlying medical conditions, according to Janis Orlowski, chief medical officer at the hospital center, located in Washington, D.C. The mother died at home March 1.?

Her 58-year-old son and a 56-year-old daughter were initially hospitalized at Calvert Memorial Hospital. Both died Monday; the daughter at Calvert and the son at the hospital center, where he had been transferred.?

The other daughter, 51, was transferred from Calvert to the hospital center Monday and is ?doing better today,? said Orlowski.?

That woman arrived with the same flu-like symptoms as her siblings, including fever, aches, cough and shortness of breath, Orlowski said.?

Tests confirmed the siblings who died had a type of flu virus known as influenza A, and each also acquired a serious staph infection, Orlowski said. She said it was unlikely the infection was acquired in the hospitals because the siblings arrived coughing blood, adding: ?It?s likely they came to the hospital with the infection, which is what caused the cough and fever.??

Tests are being conducted to determine whether the second daughter has the same influenza virus and infection. Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will determine what strain of the influenza A virus infected the family, Orlowski said.?

This year?s flu season has gotten off to a late start, health officials have said, but Orlowski said there has been an increase in the number of patients with flu-like symptoms in recent weeks. Hospital center officials are looking into at least one other recent death--unrelated to the Calvert cluster--to determine whether it was related to flu.?

The 2011-2012 flu vaccine will protect against the three influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the season. This includes two types of influenza A virus, H1N1 and H3N2 , and an influenza B virus.?

Health officials said the department is not recommending any protective actions for the general public other than to urge people who have not yet received a flu vaccine to get one. Local officials are also asking residents to take standard precautions to prevent the spread of illness, including hand washing and limiting contact with sick individuals. Anyone with flu-like symptoms should check with a health-care provider to be evaluated.

Source: http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2012/03/calvert-county-victims-had-staph-as-well-as-influenza-a.html

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