January 09, 2015
A 40-year-old Voorhees mom died from complications of the flu and pneumonia Sunday, the Courier Post reports.
Nicole A. Born, the mother of a 7-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son, caught the flu around Christmas when the family came down with it.
She was admitted to Virtua Hospital on Jan. 2 with shortness of breath and fever, underwent tests and was prescribed medications, according to the Camden County Health Officer. A day later, Born was transported while on a ventilator to Presbyterian University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, where she died on Jan. 4.
[She] didn't have time to take care of herself because everyone else was sick. She kept putting it off, putting it off, Nicole's father, Gary Born, a resident of Brigantine, told Courier Post reporter Kim Mulford.
The strain was identified by the health office as Influenza Human Isolate Type A.
There has been a surge in confirmed flu cases in much of the country, including in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, a nationwide flu season activity report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week.
The winter flu season generally peaks between December and February and causes an estimated 120 to 2,000 deaths in Pennsylvania each year.
Since the fall, more than 10,000 statewide influenza cases have been confirmed. The actual number of sick people is likely many times higher, as the vast majority do not get laboratory tests.
Gary Born said his daughter was a "picture of health" before getting sick.
