CBS 5 has learned that
one elementary school child in Contra Costa county died on May 29th of H1N1, commonly called swine flu:
Contra Costa Health Services confirmed Thursday that an elementary school child with swine flu has died.
The child, who is from Central Contra Costa County, died May 29. A
state laboratory confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the child had the
H1N1 virus in addition to a secondary bacterial infection, according to
Contra Costa Public Health Director Dr. Wendel Brunner.
Swine flu has been blamed for three deaths in California and at least 20 deaths nationwide, Brunner said.
Had you forgotten about H1N1? After such a fever pitch in the beginning, it's almost odd to hear of a death at this stage in the game. Undoubtedly, some Contra Costa parents are wigging out about possible infection. But how much should they worry?
Let's go to the CDC for more:
Most commonly, these cases occur in persons with direct exposure to
pigs (e.g. children near pigs at a fair or workers in the swine
industry). In addition, there have been documented cases of one person
spreading swine flu to others. For example, an outbreak of apparent
swine flu infection in pigs in Wisconsin in 1988 resulted in multiple
human infections, and, although no community outbreak resulted, there
was antibody evidence of virus transmission from the patient to health
care workers who had close contact with the patient.
Learn more at the CDC "Swine Flu" fact sheet.
