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| Tuesday, February 9, 2010 |
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BREAKING NEWS: Scottsboro boy dies of illness
Published August 31, 2009
A Scottsboro Elementary School Student died Monday morning at Highlands Medical Center of undetermined causes.
Reports indicate the 12-year old boy, Alex Garcia, died while being treated for a flu-like viral illness, possibly Novel H1N1 (swine flu). The boy was a student at Collins Elementary School. At least several other children who attend the school for fifth and sixth graders are reportedly suffering from similar symptoms.
Scottsboro Funeral Home confirmed late Monday afternoon that it would be handling funeral arrangements for Garcia.
The Alabama Department of Public Health issued a statement at 4:45 p.m. confirming that it had has been informed of the situation.
The statement said, “The Alabama Department of Public Health has been informed that a school-age child from Jackson County has died from influenza. It is presumed that novel H1N1 influenza is the likely cause of death because of its prevalence in Alabama. This would be the third known death in the state from novel H1N1 influenza.
“This death serves as reminder of the need for everyone to take additional precautions because of the early onset of influenza in Alabama.”
Attempts to reach Scottsboro Board of Education Superintendent Dr. Judy Berry by phone seeking additional information went unreturned Monday afternoon.
The Center for Disease Control’s new guidance issued recently did not recommend closing schools in the event of H1N1. The federal agency said that, “persons with influenza-like symptoms should remain at home until at least 24 hours after they are fever free (100 F) or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications.”
CDC said their guidelines apply to schools, businesses, mass gatherings, camps and other community settings where the majority of people are not at increased risk for influenza complications.
Highlands Medical Center issued a brief statement shortly after 3:30 p.m. Monday stating that it could not comment in detail on the situation.
“Under guidelines related to the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Highlands Medical Center and all hospitals are prohibited from commenting about specific patients and the nature of their injuries or illnesses,” Highlands spokesperson Bryant Pitchford said.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information. Its confidentiality provisions protect the patient while being used to analyze patient safety events and improve patient safety. The Office of Civil Rights enforces the act.
Jackson County Coroner John David Jordan confirmed that the boy died at Highlands Medical Center sometime before noon. He said his office was contacted because it is required to review child death cases.
“Highlands Medical Center and the Jackson County Health Department are following up,” Jordan said. “They are investigating the case.”
Jordan could not confirm that the youth died of H1N1. He said that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Alabama Department of Public Health would receive the appropriate information in the case and would make the final determination after appropriate testing.
“The Alabama Department of Public Health would be the ones to follow those type cases,” Pitchford said.
The family, according to sources, has requested a private autopsy.
See Tuesday's print edition of The Daily Sentinel for more information.
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