EDMONDS — A 29-year-old Edmonds man died at Stevens Hospital on Tuesday evening, several days after coming down with flu-like symptoms.
The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Randy Charles Rae.
An initial screening test taken at his doctor’s office showed he had Influenza A, but additional tests are necessary to confirm the diagnosis. Whether he died from flu complications or from some other cause is still being investigated.
Stevens Hospital, citing new federal privacy regulations on patient information, would not disclose the man’s name.
However, Dr. John Todd, the hospital’s medical director, said a man who was otherwise healthy but had been sick for about three days died Tuesday evening. Emergency room doctors could not resuscitate him.
Although Todd called the death a "very unusual event for a healthy person," he stressed that it should not be assumed he died of the flu.
"He may have had something undiagnosed that made him more susceptible," Todd said.
The death comes during a year in which the flu season has begun unusually early, both in Snohomish County and across the nation. Colorado, where five children have died from flu and another child’s death may be flu-related, has been particularly hard hit.
Snohomish County physicians who are part of a national flu reporting system say they have had unusual numbers of patients initially test positive for flu.
Last week at The Everett Clinic, 82 of 226 patients, or 36 percent, tested positive, spokeswoman Cynthia Scanlon said.
More patients were tested last month for flu — 720 — than the organization has ever tested during an entire flu season, she said.
"Last year, we didn’t have our first positive test until Dec. 20," she added.
Health officials note that nationally, about 36,000 people die each year from flu. They advise anyone worried about catching the virus to get a flu shot and be vigilant about washing their hands to help slow the spread of the disease.
"If it continues at this pace, it could be a worse year than normal" for flu, said state Health Department spokesman Donn Moyer, noting that for the past several years flu season has been relatively mild.
The state health agency may be asked to help investigate the Edmonds man’s death. "We would cooperate and do what we can," Moyer said.
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