Nurse dies of swine flu
Karen Hays died July 17 from complications to swine flu.
A 51-year-old nurse in Sacramento, CA became that state’s first health-care worker to die of swine flu. Karen Ann Hays died July 17 of a severe respiratory infection, pneumonia and H1N1, according to her death certificate. She also had methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a staph infection that is resistant to many antibiotics.
The Sacramento Bee reported the death on July 31. Hays was a triathlete, skydiver and marathon runner—not the typical sort of person to die of the flu, one might think.
“It’s not surprising for an otherwise healthy person to die of H1N1,” said Dr. Glennah Trochet, Sacramento County’s public health officer in a statement to the Bee.
“Nationwide all along there have been people who have died who did not have underlying medical conditions” such as obesity or pregnancy, she said. “When a disease is common enough and circulates enough, you will see all kinds of deaths.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have both said that health-care workers should be among the first to receive vaccinations against swine flu.
British health authorities reported July 14 that Dr. Michael Day of Bedfordshire, north of London, died from complications of the flu, becoming the first physician known to have died in the pandemic.
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