The latest 2017, and the beginning of this year have been marked by the flu, which unfortunately has killed tens of people in a significant part of the country. Not only adults have been victims of this illness, but also elders and children. This time, as reported on Tuesday, a 10-year-old boy from New Canaan, Conn., who was attending a hockey tournament, died from complications caused by influenza.
Nico Mallozzi went to the state of New York to attend a hockey tournament, which took place last weekend. Since the beginning of that week, the boy started telling his mother he was feeling sick, but the family thought that it was another typical flu and that the boy only needed to rest.
Despite the sickness, Nico still wanted to assist his tournament and joy his team: the Roughriders. So he told his family they were going to Buffalo, as the New Canaan Advertiser reported. However, after they arrived the city, the boy started getting sicker every time more, so his family took him to the nearest hospital in the zone.
At the Buffalo hospital, according to the local media reported, New Canaan Director of Health David Reed said that Nico had Influenza B. His family decided to return home on Sunday, but only reached the Catskills region of New York seeing how sick the fourth-grade boy was feeling. Then, the Mallozzi family went to a nearby hospital again, where they only waited for a few more minutes.
The 10-year-old boy died in the next hours in that hospital. He only wanted to play with his team to win The Cup North American Championship but ended joining the number of victims who have died due to this flu season.
As the health officials indicated, the symptoms that Mallozzi presented complicated after he got pneumonia. This led to sepsis, which was the actual cause of his death.
New precautions at schools
No school opened on Monday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. But the morning after, several of students gathered at the school Mallozzi used to attend. In here, teachers offered information about the flu not only to the children and teenagers, but also their parents.
On Tuesday, as the New Canaan News reported, Schools superintendent Bryan D. Luizzi said that counselors across all town schools are ready to “assist students,” while the people continue to “struggle through this awful tragedy together.”
“From the start, we have been in close contact with medical professionals, who have shared what they know about the situation,” Superintendent of Schools Bryan D. Luizzi said Tuesday. “At this point, it has been confirmed that Nico had been diagnosed with Influenza B, a strain of the flu that is currently spreading in the Northeast.”
Luizzi told local TV station WTIC that all the schools will receive the necessary information to avoid another student to become a victim and to encourage parents not to send their children to school when they’re feeling sick and it’s preferable to keep them at home.
Likewise, Reed said that this has been one of the “worst flu seasons,” and that he thinks it will continue “until March.” Additionally, he demanded people to get vaccinated. Then, he added that Nico’s brother was also diagnosed with the flu.
It was reported that Nico spent a great time of his weekend with his team. However, none of his teammates have been tested to the date.
The schools at Buffalo will take extra precautions, like “special sanitizing processes beyond routine cleaning” – as the health officials indicated.
The boy was a ‘star’
SoNo managing partner Ryan Hughes – from the staff at the SoNo Ice House, where Nico’s team used to practice – said that he knew the boy “from around the rink,” and that he was there “every there, all year round.”
Hughes continued saying that “everyone” knew that Nico was a “star” and a “great hockey player with a great spirit.” Then, he finished saying that Nico always “kept you on your toes.”
Dale Derosa, the rink manager, agreed with Hughes and also said that “everyone” knew Nico. According to her, he was the “heart and soul of the rink,” and that he could have even run the place by “himself.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mallozzi family right now. It is a very sad day for all of us,” the team said in a statement Sunday. “Nico was a great kid with a great smile, and he will be missed greatly.”
The Roughriders hockey club updated flu guidelines on its website on Tuesday.
Source: New Canaan Advertiser