Petaluma man 3rd local swine flu death

<p>A 39-year-old Petaluma man is the third Sonoma County resident to die from complications of swine flu.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>Family members and the county Coroner's Office confirmed on Wednesday that Timothy Sturm, a competitive horseman, tested positive for the H1N1 virus.</p><p>He died at home early Friday after being sick for about a week, family members said. He was being treated at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa for flu symptoms.</p><p>Family said he had mild asthma but was otherwise healthy. They said he died less than two days after being turned down for admittance to Kaiser Hospital.</p><p>"It's the worst thing I've ever been through. He was the love of my life. He was my Superman," said Denise Sturm, his wife of 13 years.</p><p>Sturm worked as an operations manager for United Site Services, a septic disposal company, and was a member of a competitive cattle roping team. He was a lifelong Petaluma resident and attended Rancho Cotate High in Rohnert Park.</p><p>"It's terrible," said friend Ted Bernard of Penngrove, who rode with Sturm in American Cowboy Team Roping Association events. "We just can't believe it. It's just a bad deal."</p><p>Sturm's boss, Kevin Mellifont, said no other employees have reported being ill. "It's extremely unfortunate," Mellifont said. "Tim was wonderful for the company."</p><p>Sonoma County's first fatality from what health officials are now calling pandemic H1N1 2009 occurred June 20 when an elderly man with a pre-existing medical condition died. County officials have refused to identify him.</p><p>The second victim was John "JD" Dmitri Kaiwi, 43, of Forestville, who died July 7. Doctors said he had a previously unknown heart ailment.</p><p>Mark Netherda, the county's deputy public health officer, wouldn't discuss the latest case but said asthma can put people more at risk.</p><p>"Asthma is a serious underlying condition," Netherda said. "It could predispose someone to complications and even death."</p><p>Unlike other illnesses that fall hardest on the frail and elderly, the H1N1 virus is taking a toll on middle-age people who have not developed immunities, Netherda said.</p><p>Nationally, the average age of death from the virus is 49, he said.</p><p>"I hear a lot of people saying it's just the flu, but it's not," Netherda said. "This is a different organism. The risk groups normally affected -- the old and young -- that's not the risk group here. It looks more like the middle-ground people."</p><p>As of last week in Sonoma County, there had been 17 confirmed cases and 50 probable ones, he said. There could be more because not everyone is tested for the virus, he said.</p><p>The pandemic does not appear to be getting worse, but it will become the dominant strain during this year's flu season, Netherda said.</p><p>People should prepare by getting their normal flu shot and a vaccine against H1N1 when it becomes available, he said.</p><p>"This thing is here to stay, I'm afraid," Netherda said.</p><p>Family members said Sturm went to Kaiser in Santa Rosa on July 11 complaining of a head cold. Doctors told him he had a mild strain of the flu and prescribed medications, his wife said.</p><p>Four days later, he was running a 103-degree temperature, couldn't keep his food down and had a tightening sensation in his lungs, she said.</p><p>He went to the Kaiser emergency room Wednesday in Santa Rosa, asking to be admitted to the hospital, but doctors sent him home with fluids and other drugs with the promise he would be better by Monday, his wife said.</p><p>He died in his sleep early Friday morning, she said.</p><p>Funeral services are at 11 a.m. today at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Sebastopol, his wife said.</p><p>"The doctors neglected to take care of my husband," Denise Sturm said. "I asked them Wednesday, the ER doctor if it was swine flu. She said she couldn't say. She wouldn't say. She just put him on fluids."</p><p>Kaiser officials also would not discuss the case out of privacy concerns but expressed condolences.</p><p>"We understand this is an emotional situation for the family, and extend our sympathy and continued support," Kaiser spokesman Carl Campbell said in a written statement.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 762-7297 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.</p>