Home

Summit County — The death of a 13-year-old Breckenridge boy Wednesday may have been connected with swine flu infection.

Bryan Pineda, 13, was found unconscious at his home Wednesday and later died at Breckenridge Medical Center.

On Friday, he tested positive for Type A flu, and "currently 99 percent of positive Type A flu tests are thought to be 2009 H1N1 (swine) influenza," according to a joint statement from Summit County Public Health and Coroner Joanne Richardson.

To date, nobody in Summit County had tested positive for swine flu. But because seasonal flu doesn't tend to hit until November or December - and H1N1 tests are prohibitively expensive ($298 a person) - health officials are assuming positive flu tests to be swine flu. Only people who are hospitalized are tested for H1N1.

An autopsy is to be performed today, though immediate results are unlikely to suggest cause of death.

"The district is devastated at this loss, and our hearts go out to the family of this young man," Summit School District Superintendent Millie Hamner said.

Public health officials this week reported 11.5 percent of local students missing class because of illness. About 6 percent reported flu symptoms, and 5 percent reported symptoms involving sore throat and gastrointestinal problems - both of which have been reportedly connected with swine flu.

Summit High School principal Drew Adkins said 105 students missed school Tuesday because of illness, with 46 reporting flu symptoms. That's nearly 13 percent of the student body.

Summit High Schiik Athletic Director Amy Raymond said in an e-mail that a gymnastics competition Wednesday was canceled because six of seven team members were at home with the flu.

Statewide, two deaths and 170 hospitalizations this month have been attributed to swine flu. Both people who died had other health conditions that may have contributed to the deaths, according to a report in the Denver Post.