[ad_1]
Fernando Hernandez, 9, first started showing flu-like symptoms in January but was not diagnosed with Hantavirus until late February.
(GoFundMe)
A 9-year-old boy died on Friday morning after he was diagnosed with Hantavirus, an extremely rare condition typically contracted through exposure to rodent droppings. Fernando Hernandez, of Farmington, N.M., was first reported in January.
A few weeks later he was on life support.
After the first symptoms, he spent 10 days at the San Juan Regional Medical Center before he was discharged, only to return on Feb. 10, which was his ninth birthday, because he was having trouble breathing. According to the news, he was then transferred to Children's Hospital Colorado, where he was later diagnosed with Hantavirus.
At one point, there are several surgeries before being hooked up to an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which is a device that takes over the duties of the heart and lungs by pumping and oxygenating a person's blood. The boy's case was the second to be reported in Farmington in 2018, with the first occurring in 27-year-old Kiley Barron, who also died from the virus.
ADENOVIRUS OUTBREAK AT NEW JERSEY REHAB CLAIMS CENTER 10TH CHILD, SICKENS 28
About two months ago Hernandez's diagnosis, his father had his backyard. Hantavirus can be spread through contact with infected mice or their droppings or urine. It kills 36 percent of victims, and can not be transmitted from one person to another.
"Farmington is a farming community and they say in the soil," George Hernandez had told Fox News in March. "I had my help clean the backyard two months ago – I just really hope it was not that."
The grieving father said that his son, who at some point during his care was transferred to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, suffered a brain hemorrhage that left him brain dead. The family elected to take the ECMO and he later died.
MOM GIVES BIRTH AT GROCERY STORE WITH HELP OF CASHIER
"Fernando had hopes and dreams of getting to know his normal life .. school, friends, family etc.," the elder Hernandez wrote on the GoFundMe page. "Unfortunately destiny took another road … I can tell you it was not all that great for him .. he was in constant bread but was holding on."
Hernandez said he was not dying, and that the family is hoping to send his body to Arizona, where he can be buried near family.
Fox News Jennifer Earl contributed to this report.
Source link
