Common infections increase H1N1 risk

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - When Angela Mefford got the flu last week she followed her doctors orders. "Neither one of us was really too concerned about it cause it was all about the small kids and the older adults," husband Hank Mefford told WAVY.com.

Mefford was not pregnant and didn't have asthma or any other health conditions that would put her in the high risk group. At least her husband didn't think so. "Last thing I got to say to her was I love you and I'll see you tomorrow."

But Angela did have something that likely contributed to her death.

Chesapeake Health Director Dr. Nancy Welch is bound by patient privacy laws so she can't reveal Angela's condition, but can confirm she had something the Centers For Disease Control has found to be an underlying risk.

WAVY.com investigated and found the CDC looked at tissue samples from 77 people who died from H1N1 between May and August. The study found 22 of them, nearly one in three, had bacterial infections. 10 had a form of bacteria which includes acute Sinusitis and Meningitis. Some others had Staph, a common skin infection. A few more had a form that includes Group A Strep.
"Which is why it's so very important that you know the signs and symptoms to go see a doctor," Dr. Welch asserted.

Angela did seek treatment, but pneumonia took over too quickly, leaving her husband, 8-year-old daughter and 7-month-old son in a place they never imagined. "We never even talked about it or what would happen if one of us went, because we were so young," said Hank Mefford.

If you have a bacterial infection, Dr. Welch advises you stay home, whether you have a risk or not, get plenty of rest and drink plenty of liquids.

If you do have complications, can't keep liquids down, have trouble breathing or your fever goes away and then comes back then go to a doctor right away.