This is scary shit!!!
Healthy teenagers are not supposed to die of the flu. Only the elderly, the immunocompromised and maybe a few infants usually die of influenza. This reinforces my belief that a vaccine is a good idea.
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Flu kills Toronto teenager
Tue Oct 27, 7:39 AM
The Toronto Sun
A teenaged Etobicoke hockey player, who recently earned his assistant captain's letter, died yesterday from the H1N1 virus.
Evan Frustaglio, 13, was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital after collapsing at home just before noon yesterday, his grieving dad said.
Paul Frustaglio said the coroner's office last night confirmed his son died of the virus.
The so-called swine flu has already claimed 29 lives in Ontario, including several people in the GTA, during the first wave of the pandemic this spring.
Frustaglio's eldest son was sent home Sunday after being checked at a walk-in clinic for symptoms that first appeared during a weekend tournament in London.
Complaining of a sore neck and throat, Evan didn't get to play much and spoke of not feeling well while dining with friends Saturday. He vomited at home after leaving the clinic, "but the fever was down in the morning," his dad told the Sun.
But after taking a bath, Evan collapsed and Frustaglio, who had taken the day off to be with him, called 911.
The autopsy was speedily scheduled.
"We have another son and Evan was with so many other people," Frustaglio said.
"He was a good boy and for this to happen at age 13 ... ," he said, his voice choking.
His voice also catching, Mississauga North Stars coach Al Reisman said Evan's tragic death devastated teammates and raised fears about H1N1 among the team's 15 families.
Two other players on the AA team were quarantined with symptoms and another boy was treated with Tamiflu serum.
'Shocked'
"We're all very, very shocked," said Reisman, adding the right-winger "was a pretty unforgettable kid ... he had the best style.
"There wasn't a more passionate kid about hockey," he said.
"How are we going to deal with these kids?" added Reisman. "I've been a coach for 30 years and I've never, ever been associated with anything like this before."
The team's practice tonight was cancelled and counselling has been offered to the players.
Reisman said he was released from hospital late Sunday after being given a brain scan and blood tests following a massive headache -- an H1N1 symptom.
Anthony Cella, coach of the Toronto Titans, who started playing hockey with Paul Frustaglio when they were boys, called Evan "a typical nice, well-mannered boy.
"He was very respectful, very dedicated, very committed" to hockey, but also a good school student, said Cella, a business partner in an endoscopy clinic run by Frustaglio, where Evan's mom Ann-Marie is head nurse.
A St. Joseph's spokesman said anyone presenting flu-like symptoms is being tested, staff wear protective devices and an H1N1 vaccine clinic for them and students is being prepared.
Three years ago, when he was at the Mississauga Senators mid-year training camp, CityTV quoted Evan calling hockey "the best sport."
Evan died after Ontario's top medical official confirmed the pandemic's second wave had hit the province, with 29 deaths, including a pre-teen in Ottawa last weekend and a 15-year-old boy in Timmins on Oct. 14.
Federal officials approved the H1N1 vaccine last Wednesday and 722,000 doses were shipped to Ontario's 36 local health units Friday. Clinics open to the general public Nov. 2 and some doctors are offering shots now.