As of June 5^th, CIDRAP had reported 27 U.S. fatalities related to the H1N1 virus (http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/index.html). A recent tragic case has hit extremely close to home. Nine-year old Karen Perez attended 4^th Grade at El Monte Elementary School in Concord, CA, that is until a combination of the H1N1 virus and an underlying bacterial infection took her life on May 29^th.

School officials at El Monte had told ABC 7 News that they did not intend to take any special precautions and there were no classes cancelled. They did not view the one case to be a threat to other students. However, two more students from the same school were hospitalized last week. The tests results that will either cofirm or rule out H1N1 are still pending.

In reaction to the news, the principal proceeded to issue an autodial voice message to the parents of students at El Monte, which stated that two students were rushed to the hospital with severe symptoms and further reminded staff of call-in procedures if they decided not to attend. Unfortunately, that specific call was only intended for the staff members, and it was a mistake that the parents had received the message instead. A followup call, that was originally created for the students’ families, was delivered in a much different tone. The parents’ message stated that there were two more possibilities of H1N1 and went on to encourage students’ attendance.

The obvious contrast of those messages caused immediate alarm and distrust in the information that the school was providing. The local blogs are overwhelmed with heated arguments between irate parents and steadfast defenders that are pinning concerned families as being hysterically paranoid. Although I have been attempting not to personalize my articles, this particular case is very personal. My two children and I live in Concord, CA, not a mile away from El Monte Elementary School, and we are friends with several families of students there. It is understandable that accidents happen; however, it is sincerely disappointing that such a faux pas was made at a time that demands such high levels of sensitivity and diplomacy. More concerning is the lack of rational precautionary guidelines dictacted by public health departments.

Simply, each affected school should be manditorily closed for two weeks and local government should encourage citizens to stay away from public areas as much as possible during that downtime. Maybe, if less time was spent attacking concerned parents and more time was spent working together to help the reduce the spread, we could’ve prevented this recent tragic loss.

Many people are downplaying the threat of this virus, citing death statistics caused by the flu each year, and it is fact that this occurs. However, this is not “just a flu” and official and public reactions should not treat it as such. Apparently, our schools are more concerned with the budget impacts of closures than they are about the health risks to the students. Therefore, it is our responsibility to calmly educate ourselves about the nature of this virus and the realities of the threat. Information is provided below that explains some of the attributes of this specific flu strain. In order to protect our children, we need to be rationally proactive. Here’s to your health!

“The swine flu may be particularly dangerous for young, otherwise healthy adults because it contains genetic components of the H5N1 avian influenza virus, which can induce a “cytokine storm,” in which patient’s hyper-activated immune system causes potentially fatal damage to the lungs. Research studies and review articles exploring the regulation of cytokine responses in the lung and how infection-related dysregulation can cause a cytokine storm have been published in Viral Immunology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

A cytokine storm occurs when the body’s immune system over-reacts to an intruder, such as a virus, by producing high levels of cytokines, which are signaling chemicals that help mobilize immune cells capable of removing infectious agents from the body. When too many cytokines are produced, they can stimulate an inflammatory response in which the accumulation of immune cells and fluid at the site of infection may prevent affected tissues and organs such as the lungs from functioning properly and may even cause death.

H5N1 avian influenza virus - parts of which are present in the Mexican H1N1 swine flu virus causing the current outbreak - tend to cause an unusually high proportion of deaths among healthy young adults with well-functioning immune systems who become infected, most likely due to this cytokine storm phenomenon. The Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918, for example, was particularly deadly for young healthy adults.” Vicki Cohn:
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News.