Four-year-old Richmond Hill resident Elaina "Lainey" Redick died Sunday from what a Coastal Health District spokesperson said Monday was an "influenza-associated" illness.
Redick was hospitalized at Memorial Health Medical Center when she died. Officials have not said whether her death is related to the H1N1 virus.
Redick was a preschool student at Savannah Christian Preparatory School. In a press release Monday, SCPS spokesperson Wendi Patrick said the school closed for two days for "extraordinary cleaning measures" and to enable "the faculty and staff the opportunity to grieve and cope with the loss of one of their own. Many parents and community supporters have shown an outpouring of love and encouragement for the teachers and staff members as they come together to comfort one another."The release also said doctors have not yet determined the cause and that the parents, David and Kimberly Redick, had "acknowledged that the nausea was not accompanied by fever (seeming to rule out the primary characteristic of the H1N1 virus)."
-Read more in the Bryan County News.