Ashley's Story In Her Father's Words Ashley was in Kampala Uganda for about 3 weeks with her mother Tracey Strass. Ashley took ill in Uganda and was taken to Case International Hospital at least 2 times. The hospital drew blood and said she did not have malaria, but had a bacterial infection and gave her antibiotics (malaria is a parasite and antibiotics don't work). Ashley was then taken to a second facility called Life Link multiple times and they did exactly the same thing and misdiagnosed her the same way, Tracey became ill after returning in June and the Citrus County Health Department diagnosed her with the flu even though Tracey had gotten flu shots. Days and Days passed and Tracey got sicker and sicker plus she was pregnant. The doctor again said she had the flu and told her to keep taking the medication ( they knew she had been to Uganda and Ashley had died of malaria). I became very concerned and called the CDC. They contacted the health department and asked if they had tested Tracey for the flu and they said no, then the CDC sent us back to the health department and Tracey was tested negative for the flu We were than sent by the CDC directly to Citrus memorial hospital to draw blood for analysis and within 1/2 hour they told us she had malaria and to doctor refused to see or treat her. I offered to give them contacts at the CDC and they refused to use them. Tracey had a very high fever, low red blood cell count low platelets, and low sugar level, The unborn child's heart beat was dangerously high and nothing was getting better. The hospital tried to transfer Tracey to Tampa General and Shands. Both hospitals refused the transfer because they said Tracey and the babies condition was to critical and they were too at risk. Finally Winnie Palmer hospital in Orlando agreed to take her and she was taken by the EMS. Tracey was in the hospital there for almost a week with coordinated treatments between the CDC and Winnie Palmer. The medical examiners office was in Fairfax County Virgina. I will try to get the female doctors name. Ashley and Tracey went to the Citrus County Health Department about two weeks before their trip to Uganda and were not given preventive malaria medication We now knew it is pills not a shot. Claude Strass |
UPDATE: FEBRUARY 1, 2013 It is clear now that the CDC had very many people running around doing many different things without any coordination, good communication, or common goals and too much editing and editorials which leaves one with so many conflicting issues and supposed facts that it is impossible to determine what really happened. Where are all the actual documents instead of so many third party conversations and emails? There are a number of items covered in the FOIA response in which I have first-hand information actually reported incorrectly by the CDC. Where is the 6 foot time line document prepared by Liz Harton CDC officer or the final conclusions on why the Citrus County health department did not provide proper pre-travel treatments, why the misdiagnosis of Ashley Strass at the Case Hospital and Life Link. Why the reporting of Ashley's death at the Reason Hospital was delayed, and why Ashley died in the Reston Hospital after arriving with a normal blood pressure? Why the Virginia Medical Examiner's office refused to test for malaria when it was requested by both Claude Strass and the CDC? Why the Citrus County misdiagnosed Tracey Strass' malaria case and almost died until Claude Strass contacted Liz Harton from the CDC for help? Is it normal for so many facts to be missing and substituted by many duplicate 3rd party emails with so many miss facts and distortions? We believed in the CDC's integrity, ability, and representations for almost 2 years based on the periodic updates until we finally saw the in compete and incompetence in their FOIA documents released with so many actual facts and original documentation withheld ( more than 70% of the pages were duplicate after duplicate). This experience has been so very disturbing that has affected me as much as the loss of my daughter. The only things we know for sure is a mosquito bite caused malaria and that our Ashley is dead and Tracey and our son almost died all from not receiving proper medical care from many medical facilities at many different levels. The results speak for themselves so many medical records from so many medical facilities and services are missing (they don't just disappear). So we are forced to rely on here say, and 3rd party discussions they are heavily audited and redacted. My family and wife deserve better... Sincerely, Claude Strass 5 Mastic Court West Homosassa, Florida 34446 352-382-3496 |
UPDATE FEBRUARY 2, 2013: Posted by Claude Strass on February 2, 2013 at 10:36 am edit We realize that after Liz Harton, CDC Federal Officer completed a comprehensive report in the fall of 2011 on our daughter’s wrongful death. She was required to turn it over to the CDC’s legal department before releasing it to the dead minor’s parents, after this no further communications was allowed and the report has been withheld from the parents based on the CDC’s legal department. It is a shame when our government decides that the investigation of our daughter’s death becomes top secret and classified and unavailable to the grieving parents of their 4 year old daughter |