15 year old dies from flu

A seemingly healthy and active 15 year old boy died from the flu in February of 2005. Apparently he went to bed with symptoms of the flu and a fever. Later in the night his legs and thighs began to hurt and turn white. His parents took him to the ER where he underwent surgery due to a compartment syndrome in his leg which had been caused by him running the day before and it irritated his muscles. He died in surgery. It's very sad to hear a story like this because it seems like every winter the flu spreads around and you never know when something like this is gonna happen to somebody you know. You can never be too careful when you get sick, even if you think its just the flu and it will be gone in a few days. I think its important to pay attention to not only your health but your friends and family as well. I know a few members of my family dread going to the doctor so they act like nothing is wrong or that they arent as sick as they really are.

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Wow, I can't believe that the flu would cause someone to die, especially as young as the boy was. With the boy having leg problems the day after running, makes me wonder if there was something else there. Maybe when the doctors looked him over and said he had the flu, they missed something else that was there. This makes me want to read the article and find out if there was more in the article explaining if something went wrong during the surgery, that caused the flu to get worse or affect the boy in a bad way.

The surprising fact that I learned in one of my classes this semester is that thirty six thousand people die each year from the flu. The amount of money going to the research of the flu is far less then many of the other diseases that may only kill three people a year (anthrax). With the large number of people dieing each year, I am surprised to hear that there is not more money going into research for the flu. I am not surprised that a fifteen year old would die from the flu. The flu doesn’t target certain people, and your age defiantly isn’t going to protect you. You may have a better immune system (in most cases) but you don’t have a resistance. It really is sad though that he did die in surgery, and I feel bad for the family that had to lose a child, but maybe the family will worry about the flu and its virulence.