Early in October 2009, Amanda Wickstrom started coughing during a nap. That night a fever and aches set in. By the morning she was lethargic and non-responsive. Alarmed, her pediatrician sent the child to the nearby community hospital where she was diagnosed with pneumonia in her right lung and with low oxygen levels.

HEAR Amanda's mother at Radiothon 2010 

As Amanda’s health deteriorated, the hospital arranged for her to be transferred to Hopkins Children’s. By 9 p.m. that night, she was in its pediatric intensive care unit. Within hours, her pneumonia had progressed to the left lung, as well, and her blood pressure was dangerously low.

A suspected H1N1 infection was confirmed. The child’s pneumonia was secondary to the flu virus.

The toddler was placed on a machine to help her breathe and on medication to maintain her blood pressure. She developed a pleural effusion, a dangerous accumulation of fluid between the lungs and the chest wall, and required frequent breathing treatments and aggressive care to avoid a chest tube or surgery.

Six days after she was admitted, she returned home. Likely Johns Hopkins’ first pediatric patient with H1N1, she returned to school a week later in Columbia, Md., where she now lives the active life of a healthy 3-year-old.