ESF Magazine / Summer 2019
By RENÉE K. GADOUA
The last time Serese Marotta ’99 talked with her 5-year-old son, Joseph, they discussed Halloween plans. “He wanted a Star
Wars costume, maybe a storm trooper,” she said. Joseph had been hospitalized nine days earlier with flu symptoms: cough, lethargy, vomiting. As the two chatted, Joseph’s blood pressure plummeted. Doctors and nurses scrambled to stabilize his heart rate, but minutes later, the cheerful little boy who loved Legos, Transformers and Spider-Man died. His was one of 288 flu-related U.S. pediatric deaths in the 2009-10 flu season. Until the last frantic hours of Joseph’s.