Sue McGuire for KCBS-740 AM Radio
(KCBS) -- A Modesto, Calif. Police officer, who had been suffering from flu type symptoms, died suddenly Saturday, apparently becoming the latest victim of the flu outbreak affecting California.
Modesto Police Detective Doug Ridenour says 32-year-old Officer Michael DuFour’s family found him unconscious on the floor early Saturday morning. “The fire department got notified by the emergency response crews after they responded to a home here in Modesto that one of our officers, he had apparently collapsed and stopped breathing. They started CPR, the family did, but once the medical folks got there, they pronounced him dead a short time later at the house,” said Ridenour.
DuFour had called in sick the past two days.
The Stanislaus County Coroner’s office is conducting an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
The number of deaths with suspected links to the flu outbreak have continued to climb in the state.
A 16-year-old boy who tested positive for the flu has died in a San Diego county hospital. Two other deaths in the county may also be related to the flu. County officials confirm a 56-year-old San Diego man died December 3rd of flu induced pneumonia and it’s suspected in the death Tuesday of a 13-year-old girl. A seven-year-old Bakersfield boy died Sunday and an elderly San Luis Obispo resident died of the flu last week.
People concerned about the flu are crowding Bay Area emergency rooms but many of the cases involve people with the common cold that easily can be treated at home.
Amy Nichols, the infection control manager at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland and Berkeley says it’s important to know the difference between a cold and flu because it could save your life. “It stays with you longer and there are other things that can occur in the wake of being infected with the influenza virus that can put you at risk for a more severe disease like pneumonia,” she said.
Knowing the difference between the flu and the cold could also ease the burden placed on emergency rooms in the area.
Nichols says the flu is a respiratory infection that leaves victims with high fevers and low energy for more than a week. A cold does not last nearly as long and the fever isn’t as bad. For people who have a fever for more than three days, they should seek medical care.