La Crosse virus is the second-most common virus in the US spread by mosquitoes – and can cause severe neurological damage in rare casesFor the Laudick family of Greensburg, Indiana, life forever changed on Aug. 5, 2013. That was the day 4-year-old Leah Laudick told her mom, Shelly, that she had a bad headache.
La Crosse virus is the second-most common virus in the US spread by mosquitoes – and can cause severe neurological damage in rare casesFor the Laudick family of Greensburg, Indiana, life forever changed on Aug. 5, 2013. That was the day 4-year-old Leah Laudick told her mom, Shelly, that she had a bad headache. Two days later, Leah was hospitalized nearby with worsening headaches and a slightly elevated white blood cell count. She slept for most of the day and by Aug. 9 was largely unresponsive. That day, during her transfer to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis, Leah had her first of several seizures. Doctors were unable to identify her illness – tests for diseases like meningitis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and herpes simplex all came back negative. One day later, on Aug. 10, Leah’s brain activity stopped. That evening she passed away in the arms of her grieving parents. A few months later, the Laudicks learned from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tha