A trip to "The Office"

Posted at 8:48 AM on April 5, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

On Thursday night, over the closing credits, NBC ran this clip of a young man playing the hit show's theme.

A little -- very, very little -- sleuthing reveals that he's Nathan Robinson, a 15 year old Massachusetts kid who died this winter from the flu.

As the flu season winds down, the CDC reports this week that 59 children have died from the flu nationwide this season.

The agency says flu deaths this year have been above the definition of "epidemic" for 12 straight weeks.

The national map through last Saturday shows the hardest-hit areas:

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Comments (2)

Aren't most of the fatalities from the flu due to pre-existing medical conditions that are exacerbated by the influenza virus? I think that these statistics are really one side and alarmist if this is indeed true? It's absolutely frightening to think of healthy children dying from the flu!

Posted by JD | April 7, 2008 11:19 AM

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JD..
Children and elderly populations are particularly vulnerable and not necessarily because of pre-existing conditions, but because of still developing immune systems and/or failing immune systems. And yes it is extremely frightening to have a healthy child die from the flu. I wish I could say I have never known a family to suffer this extraordinary loss, but I know 2. I also know of 2 families who had the good fortune of their child recovering after days of intensive care and no uplifting prognosis.
Alarming? yup...
but take a look at the health care system...
One of the lucky families took their child to the emergency room twice..
the first time, 104 temp wasn't alarming, just given tylenol and the hurry up and wait dx.
second time.. 105 with tylenol... almost released until a test came back saying kidneys are failing.

We don't have a health care system... we have a wait until they hit rock bottom system or it will cost too much.

Posted by Minn Whaler | April 9, 2008 5:50 PM

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