Student With Swine Flu Critical

At Beck Junior High School in Katy, it was "Wear Green Day,” honoring a dear friend who's life is in danger.

Billy Cary is 13. He’s been hit so hard by the swine flu and complications that after a week in the hospital, it's an improvement to say he's in critical condition.

“It's as scary as it gets,” Cary’s dad said. “When he got the flu, it went to his lungs. He got a bacterial infection as well as pneumonia. The bacteria was so bad he went into septic shock”

Cary's now on a ventilator and a kidney dialysis machine.

And his dad says he never thought the swine flu was any big deal.

“This virus is different from the seasonal flu viruses,” Dr. Norris Payne said.

Payne is a longtime Houston pediatrician on the front lines of this epidemic. He says his patients seem to get sicker from the virus now than they did in the spring--and he sees evidence that it's attacking healthy young children and adults.

“The other viruses don't turn a healthy great immune system into a dagger against you,” he said.

Payne is concerned that because the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has said the H1N1 virus is relatively mild, parents may wait too long to get treatment.

He says the anti-virals work 99 percent of the time, but they have to be taken within a day or two of the first symptoms.

Meanwhile, the Katy community sends Cary much needed love, and his dad says he sees the power of their prayer.

H1N1 is now widespread across Texas.

City and County Health officials on Thursday warned that too many people are seeking treatment for the swine flu who don’t actually need it. Area emergency rooms are being “strained” with sick people seeking a solution.

“These are folks that probably don't need to be there," said Dr. David Persse, Houston’s Health Authority. “Most people if they get ill will be able to take care of themselves at home without any difficulty,” he said.

Health officials say if you’re in one of the high risk priority groups you should seek a doctor’s advice.

The group includes children under two, the elderly, pregnant women, health care workers, and those with compromised immune systems.

The first batch of the swine flu vaccine will be ready early next month.

-- Track Billy Cary's Swine Flu Progress: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/billycary