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PCCSF Treats South Florida Toddler for the Flu

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Pediatric Critical Care of South Florida’s Dr. Allan Greissman shared with Local 10 News the story of Michael, a 3-year-old Ft. Lauderdale boy who recently underwent critical treatment for the flu.

During this deadly flu season, the CDC is reporting 53 child deaths and is warning that we have not seen the worst of it yet. According to Dr. Greissman, the most common reason for a child with the flu to be admitted to PCCSF is high-grade fever or dehydration. Michael, like many patients who are admitted to PCCSF, began to suffer from “end-organ disease” as he fought off the flu.

Michael is a reminder of how dangerous this flu season is and the importance of getting the flu shot.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Michael celebrated his 3rd birthday at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, the pediatric unit of Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.

His mom said he first got a rash and complained of joint pain. Then he had a fever. Eventually, tests showed the toddler was infected with an aggressive form of the flu.

“Michael had a lot of what we call ‘end organ disease.’ It affected his neurological status, it affected his heart,” Dr. Allan Greissman said. “It affected his kidneys, it affected his lungs and it affected his liver.”

Greissman, a pediatric critical care specialist at Pediatric Critical Care of South Florida at the hospital, said Michael is recovering, but Dylan Winnick was not so lucky. The 12-year-old from West Palm Beach is among the 53 other children who have died of the flu around the nation. The Centers for Disease Control had bad news again Friday. The flu season has intensified and there are more weeks of suffering ahead.

One of every 14 visits to doctors and clinics were for fever, cough and other symptoms of the flu. That’s the highest level since the swine flu pandemic in 2009. Last week, 42 states reported high patient traffic for the flu, up from 39.

Hospital stays because of the flu also increased.

To read the full story, visit Local 10 News.

Pediatric Critical Care of South Florida Featured on Local 10 2-2-18 from Diana Somarriba on Vimeo.

PCCSF Saves The Life of South Florida Teen From Near-Fatal Flu

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jenny-spell6Jenny Spell was rehearsing for her Florida high school’s production of The Sound of Music in 2014 when she started feeling achy and fatigued.

“I thought it was a common cold,” Jenny, now 18, tells PEOPLE. “During show season, there are lots of nasty germs spreading around and I thought I could beat it, but it just got worse and worse.”

The teen doesn’t remember much from the days that followed —only that her body “quit” on her and she found herself unable to move. Her mother, Ann Spell, took her to their primary care office in their hometown —  where doctors said she had flu-like symptoms.

“After three visits, she was eventually admitted to the ICU at a community hospital and I had to carry her in she was so weak,” Ann, a 53-year-old high school teacher in Loxahatchee, tells PEOPLE. “They immediately intubated her and started calling state hospitals to find a place that was equipped to handle necessary life support.”

Doctors and nurses informed Ann that her daughter would likely not make it through the night. They advised her to bring friends and family to the hospital to say their final goodbyes.

“I was preparing for her death,” says Ann. “It was terrifying, I can’t even express the pain I was feeling in that moment.

“My 16-year-old daughter was just running up the stairs earlier that week and now I was being told she wasn’t going to make it.”

Jenny was flown to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, where she was diagnosed with influenza by Dr. Gerald Lavandosky.

Read the full People Magazine story here.