A coworker’s sister. In her late 30s or early 40s. Otherwise in good health. I think it was during the H1N1 season. She was sick for a week or so, getting worse, and wouldn’t go to the doctor. Her mom eventually called an ambulance, but by then she was in organ failure. It was a huge shock to my coworker and family.
I’ve known hundreds of people in my life with whom I’ve had no contact in years and have no idea whether they’re even alive, much less what they might’ve died from. But of the people with whom I’ve been personally acquainted, about whose death I have at least some information, none seems to have died from the flu. That I can think of, anyway. I’m sure as soon as the edit window times out I’ll say to myself, wait a minute…
A number of people, all of whom had exising conditions, died from pneumonia which was a consequence of the flu.
One was a woman in her 40s who had won her battle with breast cancer and had no reserves left to fight.
Another was a woman in her 80s who had had surgery recently and got infected with the flu, which then turned into penumonia.
My sister died from H1N1 six years ago. She was 50.
A friend died in 2000 from the flu. She was 55. She may have had some other preexisting condition–she was kind of a hypochondriac but some of it could be real. A teacher at one of my kids’ schools also died of some complications after getting the flu. This was in the mid-1990s, not sure what the complications were or if there was a preexisting condition.
An elderly person I knew died of pneumonia that was probably brought on by the flu
Not any more, no.
My first cousin died a couple of years ago at 53. She was an otherwise very healthy woman. She caught the flu and it rapidly got worse. Within a couple of days she collapsed and died of sepsis brought on by the flu.