Swine Flu Tragedy Strikes Vazquez Rana

IOC member Mario Vazquez Rana. (Getty Images)The 21-month-old grandson of Mexican IOC member Mario Vazquez Rana was the first person to die of the swine flu in the United States, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Miguel Tejeda Vazquez died April 27 in a Houston hospital. He was the youngest of six children of Vazquez Rana's daughter, Miriam Vazquez, and well-known architect Jose Manuel Tejeda, the newspaper said.

Miguel spent most of April in Brownsville, Texas, while vacationing with his mother and other family members. He suffered from flu-like symptoms when he returned to Brownsville after visiting Houston's Galleria Mall.

According to the Brownsville Herald, the boy's aunt, who has not been identified, told Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos that Miguel had no flu symptoms when he entered the United States on April 3, but had a chronic respiratory condition that was diagnosed at birth.

At 1:30 a.m. on April 13, he was taken to a Brownsville hospital where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Miguel was transferred to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston the following day.

The boy was cremated by Houston's Compean Funeral Home, owner Greg Compean told reporters. The family returned to Mexico on Wednesday.

Vazquez Ranais a member of the IOC executive board. He runs a media empire that includes 41 Mexican newspapers.

In Mexico City, senators from the Partido de la Revolución Democratica through the Milenio newspaper extended their condolences to Vazquez Raña.

With reporting from Karen Rosen

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