Pregnant woman, 22, dies from H1N1 complications

HAMILTON COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) - A pregnant woman in Hamilton County has died from H1N1 virus complications. The woman died on Tuesday but her autopsy results were just released Friday night.

The Hamilton County Coroner said 22-year-old Amber Remmel of Noblesville died from pneumonia, but she tested positive for the H1N1 virus. The coroner believes her pregnancy made her more susceptible to illness.

According to Remmel's grandmother, Vivian Gregory, Remmel was two months pregnant and a typical, healthy, strong young woman.

“She’s my favorite girl,” Gregory said. “She took care of me when I had surgery.”

The coroner said Remmel’s family took her to the hospital over the weekend because she was suffering from severe flu-like symptoms including coughing, vomiting and fever. Doctors there gave her antibiotics.

The coroner said at that time, she was not diagnosed with pneumonia. According to Gregory, Remmel didn’t get better at home.

“She went home and she just got worse. She passed away at night in her sleep,” she said.

The coroner said Monday night, less than 24 hours before her death, Remmel had a high fever that the family was able to bring down with cold baths and compresses. She went to sleep, but she never woke up.

According to Vivian, Amber didn’t have any pre-existing health conditions that the family knew of. She said the entire family is devastated over her sudden passing.

“Her mother, I don’t know if she can take it. She keeps saying 'I want her home.'”

The Hamilton County Health Department was made aware of Remmel's death on October 30.

An obituary posted on the Randall & Roberts Funeral Home Web site said Remmel was a member of Green Valley Church of Christ in Noblesville and that she was involved with the Noblesville Police Explorers and the White River Cleanup project.

Services for Remmel will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at Randall & Roberts Funeral Home in Noblesville. Friends may call Tuesday, November 3, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. prior to the service, the obit said.

Health officials in a northeastern Indiana county are also reporting their first death from the H1N1 virus.

Allen County Health Commissioner Dr. Deborah McMahan said a middle-aged woman died from the illness.