Officials confirm 3 swine flu deaths in St. Lucie
September 4th, 2009 by Cara FitzpatrickThree people in St. Lucie County have died of swine flu, marking the first confirmed H1N1 fatalities on the Treasure Coast, health officials confirmed Friday.
Jason Schenck, a 23-year-old asthmathic from Port St. Lucie, died Tuesday at St. Lucie Medical Center. Two other men, one 51 and the other 52, also died from H1N1. More information about the older men was not available Friday.
For most people, swine flu passes, causing only mild illness. But for others, such as pregnant women, diabetics and asthmatics like Schenck, it can cause life-threatening complications.
So far, five people have died from the swine flu virus in Palm Beach County, while none has died in Martin County.
Health officials say the best defense against the virus is to practice good hygiene by washing hands frequently and trying to cough or sneeze into a sleeve. If sick, stay home, they say.
But Schenck’s parents, who lost their only child to the illness, believe more must be done when someone turns up with flu-like symptoms.
“I truly feel that Jason, if he had been treated as though he had swine flu, the outcome would have been different,” MaryEllen Schenck said.
The Schencks believe their son - who loved hard, heavy metal music like that by his favorite band, Pantera - caught the illness when he attended an open-air concert in Palm Beach County with friends several weeks ago.
On Aug. 15, he went to St. Lucie Medical Center with a fever and a cough but was sent home because his swab-test for the flu came back negative, his family and health officials said.
When he returned four days later he was getting so little oxygen that his fingers and toes had turned purple, his parents said. He was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia on Aug. 19, and put on a ventilator on Aug. 22.
A positive swab test for H1N1 came back from a state lab Aug. 25, according to hospital officials. He died Tuesday.
Hospital officials said they followed the guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, discharging him because of the negative swab test and because his fever was less than 100 degrees. They plan to review the case, as is routine with any reportable illness.
The Schencks say their son’s fever was about 102.7 degrees when he went to the hospital. They also said he wasn’t isolated from other patients when he went in, waiting in the emergency room with everyone else.
The hospital began isolating patients with flu-like symptoms Tuesday, hospital spokeswoman Jana Eschbach said.
This preventative measure usually wouldn’t start until Oct. 1 - the start of the traditional flu season - but Eschbach said the hospitals began earlier this year because of the H1N1 flu strain.
MaryEllen Schenck said doctors did everything they could to keep her son alive, but she believes the virus should have been identified earlier and that if it had her son might still be alive.
“Did someone drop the ball? I truly feel they did,” she said.
Schenck’s funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Aycock Funeral Homes & Crematory in Port St. Lucie, with burial to follow at White City Cemetery.
Tcpalm.com contributed to this story.
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September 4th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
I am truly sorry that the Schenck family lost their son at such a young age. This is a tragic loss, which sounds like it could have been prevented.
September 5th, 2009 at 1:28 am
I am so, so broken hearted for you. The reason they are down-playing this is ignorance and they are so afraid of what will happen when people start seeing how serious is it- the economy will fall. Here is why… we may all not be pregnant or older or have asthma, but we all know someone who is and we fear for them. Not to mention, some people are dying without these conditions. I do not have the answers, but this is a real shame.
September 5th, 2009 at 8:06 am
People die everyday. Why does it always have to be somebodies fault. Doctors aren’t miracle workers yet people expect them to be.
Jason had underlying health problems, he was born that way to nobodies fault including his own.
You want to stop the spread of swine flu, quit going to large crowd gatherings.
I caught the swine flu the end of July. Had 102.7 fever for a few days, heavy caughing.
I prepared and had Tamiflu on hand and took it.
7 days later I was flying out on vacation and was feeling better. A week after that I was back to normal.
People need to be responsible for themselves and not depend on others. I swear 3/4 of the country would perish if todays people had to resettle the west.
Wake up.
September 5th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Yeah people might die everyday.But what about people getting laid off and cant afford the cobra insurance and they come down with the swine flu.And they have no medical insurance. And they are astmatic , some hospitals will accept you and brush it off . That happened to me with a dbl ear infection no insurance and sent me home only to go completly def I mean some people can’t prevent this from happening and yet no health care coverage I am astmatic and im lucky not to have colapsed a lung do to alergies and I have a ongoing health condition. People need to stop being so selfish. It will keep spreading…
October 7th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I have one answer for the future,the Venus Project. Google it and get educated.