Flu Might Have Caused Costa Mesa Boy’s Death : Health: He had no history of medical problems. Emergency rooms have been filling at a feverish pace.

The flu and other respiratory viruses have attacked with fury over the holiday season, filling Orange County emergency rooms with feverish, wheezing patients and possibly leading to the death Tuesday of a 6-year-old Costa Mesa boy.

Employers said Wednesday that the bugs have taken a bite out of their work forces, and a county Health Care Agency official said several schools reported high rates of absenteeism just before Christmas vacation.

“We’re getting hit pretty hard,” said Dr. Mark K. Langdorf, acting director of the emergency room at UCI Medical Center. “In terms of upper respiratory infections, we’ve seen 30 cases yesterday and 30 the day before. . . . Normally, we would see five. It’s quite a dramatic increase.”

A 6-year-old Costa Mesa boy was found dead on his bedroom floor Tuesday morning, just a few days after he began to suffer flu-like symptoms, the Orange County coroner’s office reported.

The youngster, an active child who enjoyed baseball and karate, had no history of serious medical problems, said a coroner’s investigator, who asked not to be identified. His mother had what she described as the flu last month and his younger brother had it a week ago.

“This little one was just sick on Friday,” the investigator said. “He felt kind of icky and didn’t eat his favorite . . . food.”

His parents gave him Tylenol and cough medicine, the investigator said. Early Tuesday, he rose from his bed and removed his clothes, apparently because he was hot, then lay on the floor of his bedroom, she said. When his little sister came in to put a cover over him, she noticed he was not breathing. By the time paramedics arrived, about 8:30 a.m., he had died.

An autopsy on the boy, whose name was not released, is pending, but coroner’s officials suspect he was suffering from a virus. County health officials could not be reached Wednesday to discuss the case, but other physicians said it would be very unusual for an otherwise healthy child to die from the common flu.

Infectious-disease specialists do not attribute the onslaught of patients exclusively to influenza. Though there are almost certainly more cases this year than last of influenza A--an aggressive type that can lead to secondary bacterial infections--doctors in Orange County say they are treating more patients for a range of airborne respiratory infections.

Several of these cause similar symptoms to the flu, including scratchy throats, dry coughs, fevers and splitting headaches.

Among the other viruses are respiratory syncytial virus, which is particularly virulent in children younger than 6 months old, and others known as parainfluenza and adenovirus. The diseases often cannot be distinguished from one another without laboratory tests.

All of them are sending patients to doctors’ offices and emergency rooms in droves.

“This hospital is very busy,” said Dr. David J. Lang, director of infectious diseases and medical education at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. “There are people stacked up waiting for rooms,” mainly because of respiratory illnesses.

More cases of influenza A have been detected throughout the region and nation, said Kathryn Rekrut, a supervisor with Kaiser Permanente’s virology laboratory, which tracks flu strains and other respiratory illnesses for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But Rekrut said she suspects the increase might be due more to the fact that doctors now have more drugs to treat the flu and its complications and are sending more specimens out for laboratory testing.

A CDC spokesman said Wednesday that the agency’s flu tracking efforts have been hampered by the federal budget standoff. But as of Dec. 16, California had only “sporadic” flu activity, said Tom Skinner. Twenty-nine other states reported regional or widespread problems. No precise numbers on influenza are kept.

“I wouldn’t say this is an unusually bad year,” Skinner said. “It’s often hard to predict how a flu season will evolve from year to year, and it’s still early yet in the season. We would expect [the incidence] to pick up in upcoming weeks.”

Doctors say that in most cases, patients need only follow the advice their grandmothers used to give them: Get plenty of rest, drink lots of fluids and try not to cough and sneeze on other people. But if symptoms do not abate after three days or so, or if breathing becomes labored, it is important to seek medical attention quickly.

Although it is best to receive an influenza vaccination in the fall, before flu season starts, experts said it is not too late to get one now. The shots are recommended for elderly people and those who have compromised immune systems or chronic heart or respiratory problems.

For patients whose symptoms do not abate, there are antiviral and antibiotic drugs that can help tame the illness and its complications.

Influenza is taken very seriously by health officials because it has the potential to spread rapidly. But what often raises the most concern among physicians are flu complications.

Dr. Kenneth Litwack, an infectious-disease specialist in Newport Beach, said he is seeing more secondary bacterial infections this year. He is particularly troubled, however, by the single case of primary influenza pneumonia he saw at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

“This is the kind we really worry about,” Litwack said, because symptoms can develop in an otherwise healthy person within 24 hours. Basically, the flu virus produces the pneumonia, creating an inflammatory reaction in the lungs that interferes with the patient’s ability to breathe.

Patients like the woman at Hoag often must be placed on ventilators.

“The problem is, we don’t know who’s going to get that,” he said. “The reason we’re concerned is that it can occur in a normal individual and . . . you can die from that.”

He said the condition is uncommon, but because onset is very fast, doctors must act immediately to treat it.

Times staff writer David Reyes contributed to this report.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Flu File

The case of a Costa Mesa boy who died of what might be respiratory virus illustrates the seriousness of the seasonal battle with the flu and similar infections. Health officials say Orange County’s current flu wave is worse than last year. A flu primer:

SYMPTOMS

* Sudden onset of muscle aches

* Joint pain

* Lower back pain

* Scratchy throat

* Runny nose

* Dry cough

* Sneezing

* Fever and chills

* Headache

* Weakness

****

POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS

* Secondary bacterial infections

* Pneumonia

****

IF YOU HAVE THE FLU

* Rest

* Drink plenty of fluids

* Take over-the-counter painkillers to relieve aches and pains and reduce fever; aspirin should not be given to children or teenagers with fever or flu symptoms. Other painkillers approved by physicians may be used.

* Stay home until symptoms subside so as not to infect others

* Wash hands frequently

* Contact doctor if symptoms do not subside after three or four days or if you experience shortness of breath

* In severe cases, seek prescriptions for antibiotic or antiviral medication

****

TO AVOID THE FLU

* Vaccinations are advised for elderly people, those with upper respiratory or circulatory diseases and anyone else with compromised immunity

* Stay away from those who are experiencing symptoms

* Wash hands frequently

* Avoid rubbing eyes

Sources: Kaiser Permanente, UCI Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Orange County physicians

Researched by JULIE MARQUIS / Los Angeles Times