South Georgian dies of H1N1

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October 14, 2009

Angie Thompson The Moultrie Observer Wed Oct 14, 2009, 10:55 PM EDT

TIFTON — A 50-year-old Irwin County man died Tuesday of complications of H1N1 (swine flu), making his the first death in the 10-county health district to attributed to swine flu.

Courtney Sheeley, who works as the South Health District 8-1’s media relations person, confirmed the death. She said privacy laws prevented her from revealing the man’s name, but that she could confirm that he was 50 and from Irwin County.

“He did have underlying health conditions,” Sheeley said.

The announcement came Wednesday, the same day east Georgia officials announced the death of a 10-year-old girl from the disease.

State health officials say that Summer Rockefeller of Harlem, Ga., died Saturday. Officials say she is the second child in the state who died of the illness without having an underlying health condition.

Columbia County school board member Roxanne Whitaker said the girl’s parents lost their jobs and had no health insurance to pay medical costs. She said the family has “lost their home and everything else.”

The Harlem Baptist Church is planning a Nov. 5 fundraiser to help the family defray some costs.

The Irwin County man was reportedly being treated by a Tifton doctor and died at Tift Regional Medical Center. Sheeley said she couldn’t confirm when the man was diagnosed as having H1N1. Chris Efaw, TRMC’s director of media relations, referred questions to the South Health District 8-1 office.

Sheeley said the man’s death was the first swine flu death in the district, which includes the counties of Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Cook, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Tift and Turner. No deaths have been reported in the Southwest Health District, which includes Colquitt County.

Some 27 people in Georgia have died from swine flu and more than 500 people have been hospitalized from the virus, according to an Associated Press report.

Health departments in the region have opened up priority groups for those who could begin getting the H1N1 nasal spray vaccine, Sheeley said. Healthy children 2 to 4 years old, people who live with or care for infants younger than 6 months of age and health care and emergency medical services personnel with direct patient contact are the current priority.

“These priority groups have been identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” said Lynne Feldman, M.D., district health director. “With guidance from our state office, we made the decision to open up the priority groups to receive the H1N1 nasal spray to make it available to a broader group of high-risk individuals.”

The H1N1 nasal spray vaccine is expected to be safe and effective; however, it will not prevent influenza-like illnesses caused by other viruses, such as seasonal flu. People interested in being protected from both seasonal flu and H1N1 should receive both vaccines this year.

Those who should not get the nasal-spray form of the vaccine are pregnant women; anyone with a weakened immune system; anyone with long-term health conditions such as heart disease or asthma; anyone with certain muscle or nerve disorders; anyone in close contact with a person with a severely weakened immune system; and children or adolescents on long-term aspirin treatment. Also, anyone who has a severe allergy to eggs should not get the shot or nasal spray vaccine.

Other priority groups, such as pregnant women, may start receiving the vaccine once the H1N1 shots have arrived.

“We are not positive when we will start receiving the injectable vaccine at our clinics, but we do expect to have it in the next few weeks,” said Debra Adams, APRN, Nursing & Clinical director.

For more information on H1N1, call your health care provider or the Colquitt County Health Department, 891-7100.

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