Thursday, February 12, 2009

Wakemed conference- Gavin

We had a final review of Gavin's medical file(s) with Dr Parsons and Dr Bastek at Wake Med a few weeks ago (January 26). There was really no new news, except some expanded theories. The Dr's still think a virus was the cause, but this was never proven (no positive cultures), and never will be. Infections and viruses in premature infants are very dangerous, since their immune symptoms are very immature, and viruses/infections are one of the leading causes in all infant deaths (even in full term babies). Most of the symptoms that Gavin presented closely resembled a virus or infection, and one virus specifically called an Echo virus may have been the culprit per the Dr's research and opinions. Sepsis-like illness (blood infection) and liver failure is a dominate feature of echo viruses (and Gavin had liver and then kidney failure), and the infection is active in the summer and fall. This virus can also be somewhat challenging to culture. The Wake Med Dr's are still perplexed and genuinely bothered and hurt by Gavin's decline and passage. They have discussed his case at many of their neonatal conferences and seminars, since it is definitely somewhat rare, especially combined with the good health of his identical twin brother Colby. Colby is 6 months old as of today's posting, and is thankfully, a very happy and healthy 15.5 pound baby boy.

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