Examining how swine flu killed a ‘very healthy’ teen

By Henry L. Davis, The Buffalo News

Complications from MRSA bacteria contribute to first local H1N1 fatality

Matthew Davis was a healthy Buffalo teenager who participated in sports before complaining of headaches June 13.

Within a few days, the 15-year-old student at Harvey Austin School 97 on Sycamore Street arrived seriously ill at Women & Children’s Hospital and then died Saturday, making him the first known fatality in Erie County caused by swine flu, officially known as novel H1N1 influenza.

It was a surprising turn of events for the family.

“He was a very healthy boy,” said his mother, Lucretia Belton.

What happened? By the time Matthew entered the hospital, he was seriously ill with the flu, as well as co-infected with a type of bacteria known as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, according to health officials.

MRSA has been a problem in hospitals and nursing homes for decades, but has also spread to otherwise healthy people in the community, living normally on the skin and in the nose and throat. Research suggests that the overuse of antibiotics has contributed to the problem.

This bacteria can cause infections of the skin, nose, throat and ear. But in a small number of cases, especially in patients with weakened immune systems, it can lead to life-threatening pneumonia and blood infections.

An estimated 92 children die annually in the United States from regular influenza, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and some of those deaths have been associated with coinfection with MRSA. As such, officials at the federal agency said last month they are closely following the development of the new H1N1 flu strain to see whether there is a similar co-infection with community-acquired MRSA in some cases.

In total, eight people, including two adults, have been hospitalized in Erie County since the first case of H1N1 was confirmed in the county May 11. Three children remain hospitalized in Women & Children’s with the new strain of the flu, including a 9-year-old student at Charles Drew Science Magnet School 59 in critical condition. Matthew and the 9-year-old also were infected with MRSA when they were admitted to the hospital.

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