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Paralegal in Coma After Getting Swine Flu

By Lynne DeVenny

In an effort to keep our office free of swine flu, occasionally our office manager has an assistant disinfect the items that people frequently touch - doorknobs, light switches and telephones. As he sheepishly makes his way around the office with a jumbo bottle of Clorox wipes, we tease him about her hypervigilence and his way with a disinfectant wipe.

But I won't tease him anymore after reading that 22-year old Florida paralegal Claudia Hernandez is in a coma after contracting H1N1 or "swine" flu, and prematurely delivered her son, who did not survive. Even sadder, CBS4 is reporting that "doctors have given family members little hope Hernandez will recover."

It's human to joke about the swine flu and even call it funny names like "oinkmageddon" (Stephen Colbert), "a-pork-a-lypse" and "hamthrax", perhaps to avoid thinking about how serious a health threat it is, but the infection can cause life-threatening complications, especially for high risk individuals, including pregnant women.

Tonight, I'm keeping Claudia Hernandez and her family in my thoughts and prayers, and on Monday, I'm thanking our office manager for her efforts to keep us safe and healthy.

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on November 27, 2009 (boomark / email).