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Benson students began selling the ribbons in school Thursday. Stadium gates open at 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. kickoff at Benson Stadium against Omaha Westside.
Before the game, a moment of silence will be observed for Vili, 16, who died Tuesday. Vili's family and friends will sit together in a reserved section of the stadium.
Vili's funeral is set for 4 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Eagle's Nest Worship Center, 57th Street and Sorensen Parkway.
— Michaela Saunders
The bacteria that caused a Benson High School student's death this week can reside without symptom in the throat or turn into a flesh-eating terror.
Initial autopsy results indicate that Wilson Vili had group A streptococcus in both lungs, which led to pneumonia.
Local physicians said Thursday that group A streptococcus causes strep throat. It also can lead to skin infections, toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis, which eats deep layers of tissue.
Vili died Tuesday night at the age of 16.
“The bottom line is that this is a bad bug that this poor kid had,” said Dr. Mark Rupp, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. “And why it hits some people in some ways and other people in other ways is a mystery to us.”
Dr. Meera Varman, associate professor in pediatric infectious disease at Creighton University, said group A strep is contagious and can be transmitted by sharing cups or through coughing and sneezing.
Varman said people who have been in close contact with a person suffering from the illness should watch for symptoms and contact their physician for advice.
Depending on how the infection strikes the victim, a doctor can frequently diagnose group A strep by examining a sore throat or skin rash. The disease can be more accurately identified through lab testing of mucus.
If strep bacteria at times reside dormant in the throat, double pneumonia is an illness that lets its victim know it's there. Pneumonia caused by strep bacteria involves a fluid buildup around the lungs.
Medical experts are surprised that the Benson High student remained active almost to the end with double pneumonia. Vili, who had been selected for a college preparation and support program, played in Benson's football game Friday night, said Omaha Public Schools spokeswoman Luanne Nelson.
“He came to practice Monday and Tuesday,” she said, “and there was no indication there was anything wrong.”
Sharon Wade, health supervisor for OPS, said people with pneumonia usually “are feeling so bad they can't do all the things he did. It's really an odd situation. Not only strange but very sad that this happened to this young guy.”
Rupp said double pneumonia usually causes its victims to cough, feel short of breath and suffer chest pain and fever.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said he was told that Vili wasn't feeling well last week.
Rupp said it's quite rare for a person to die of group A strep infection. Most cases are comparatively mild, he said, and limited to sore throats or mild skin infections.
Further, Rupp and Varman said, antibiotics such as penicillin typically are highly effective in treating group A strep.
Nevertheless, Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, was among those who succumbed to a streptococcal infection, 19 years ago.
Phil Rooney, spokesman for the Douglas County Health Department, said county records indicate that only three people in the 15- to 24-year-old age range that died of septicemia — a broader category containing group A strep — during a 15-year period ending in 2007.
The State of Nebraska doesn't keep death data pertaining to group A strep. But Marla Augustine said this year that 40 Nebraskans have been reported as suffering “invasive” group A strep, a serious form of the disease.
Contact the writer: 444-1123, rick.ruggles@owh.com
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