LOCAL: Tri-City H1N1-linked deaths up to 3

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer

The number of H1N1-related deaths in the Tri-Cities is now up to three -- two adults and a 5-month-old Pasco boy who died in mid-October in Spokane, officials said.

And a 33-year-old Kennewick woman is fighting for her life at Kennewick General Hospital from complications her family says are linked to swine flu.

Heather Hill, communicable disease program manager for the Benton Franklin Health District, said Wednesday there are 50 confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza, or swine flu, in the area. But,the number of people who had or have the swine flu likely is higher because only a limited number of cases -- those with the most severe symptoms -- are being tested, Hill said.

Officials can't release the identities of those who die from the swine flu, but the state Department of Health does keep track of the deaths based on age, gender and county of residence.

Eight deaths in Eastern Washington -- 19 total in the state -- have been attributed to H1N1 since Sept. 19, according to data updated Wednesday afternoon.

One of the two new deaths on the east side was a woman in her 40s from Benton County, said Donn Moyer, spokesman for the state Department of Health.

Becky Lynn Black, 40, of Kennewick, died Oct. 28 in Seattle of complications from swine flu, according to her obituary in the Herald.

Moyer didn't yet have information on the third Tri-City death, but it may be a 67-year-old Kennewick man who died Oct. 28 in Spokane. His obituary said he died of complications from pneumonia and influenza.

Health officials have said that there are no signs of seasonal flu yet in the country, so anyone with flulike symptoms likely has H1N1. Seasonal flu typically arrives in Washington in January.

Through the end of October, there have been 736 people hospitalized due to the swine flu. Of those, 319 have been Eastern Washington residents, Moyer said.

Sherri Zuhlke has been hospitalized for about two weeks. Family members say it hasn't been confirmed she had swine flu because they were told the test has to be taken within 24 hours of getting sick to know for sure.

Sherri was sick for about two weeks with some cold and flulike symptoms before she went to the hospital for treatment, said her brother, Jason Zuhlke, 27, of Kennewick. She was then admitted with pneumonia, and has been in an induced coma for 10 days, he said.

The pneumonia developed into acute respiratory distress syndrome and her lungs stopped absorbing enough oxygen, he said. That's when doctors induced the coma and hooked her up to a breathing machine.

"They've maxed out the oxygen machine at 100 percent and she's still only absorbing 89-91 percent," Zuhlke said. "If it drops below 85 percent, it's not good."

Sherri has numerous family members and friends with her at the hospital -- including her boyfriend, brother and father. Sherri is recently unemployed after having elbow surgery, and lost her health benefits, Zuhlke said.

An account has been set up at U.S. Bank to help pay for her medical expenses. Donations can be made at a U.S. Bank branch in the names of Sherri or Jason Zuhlke.

"Even a dollar will make a difference," Zuhlke said.

Statistics so far at the state level, show the majority of deaths attributed to the swine flu are consistent with deaths at the national level, where many fit "high-risk groups because of their age or because they have underlying health conditions," Moyer said.

Most of the deaths have been people in their 50s, 60s, or 70s, but two on the west side were in their 20s with underlying medical conditions, he said.

What health officials are noticing, however, about this particular strain of H1N1 is that it seems to be targeting younger people. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called it a "young person's flu."

"Typically when you think of seasonal flu, the most at risk are elderly and people with health conditions," Moyer said. "Statically, we've had several listed over 55, but most had health conditions. Most healthy people born before 1957 don't appear to be getting this and if they do it's not very severe.

"That is the thing that's remarkable and unusual about this particular strain," he added.

Officials don't know why that is, but some have speculated that maybe a similar strain circulated before 1957 and people born before then have some resistance to it, Moyer said.

Still, health officials emphasize the need for people, regardless of their age, to remain vigilant about taking preventative measures -- washing hands a lot, not coughing or sneezing into hands or onto surfaces and staying home if sick -- and to plan on getting the vaccine once it's more readily available.

By the end of the week, nearly a half-million doses of the H1N1 vaccine will have arrived in Washington and most have been given out to people, Moyer said. The vaccine was only being given to people in high priority groups -- health care workers and those with underlying health issues -- but those restrictions should loosen in the next couple of weeks, Moyer said.

Locally, Hill said nearly every private provider who asked for the vaccine has gotten it, and some have been able to pick up a second allotment. There hasn't been enough to give to the large chain pharmacies, but that should change soon, she said.

"Our focus was to get it to the high-risk kids and pregnant women, but as more is coming in, we're able to give it to some of the other risk groups," Hill said. "We're leaving it up to the private provider to know who needs the vaccine the most."

Hill said health officials will continue to monitor H1N1-related hospitalizations and deaths, but they don't want people to panic by focusing on swine flu deaths.

"We get hundreds of people in our community dying of flu every year, and to date we've had three H1N1," Hill said. "It's a real fine line between wanting people to take it seriously enough, as it is with any flu, not just H1N1 2009. ... So whether you need to protect yourself from H1N1 or seasonal (flu), you need to continue to do those protective measures."

-- Paula Horton: 582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com

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Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

LOCAL: Tri-City H1N1-linked deaths up to 3

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer