The fact that Lyla Marina May lived more than 12 years was remarkable, given her rough start to life. She was born with a chromosome disorder.

But her recent death from complications attributed to H1N1 flu underlined how the insidious illness attacks the fragile.

"She was a miracle baby," said her mother, Leticia Munguia. "She was severely handicapped. When she was born, they told me they didn't know how long she would live. She was a fighter."

As a newborn, she also struggled to breathe in the hours after her birth. But she persevered.

Over the following few years, Lyla was prone to lung ailments. Her mother said several illnesses resulted in pneumonia.

When she wasn't ill, Lyla was a content child and a blessing, her mother said.

"She never did anything wrong. She'd wake up singing in the morning. She was an angel," Munguia said. "People told me all of the time about how hard it must be raising a handicapped child. It wasn't hard. It was a labor of love for me. I saw how much determination she had. She loved to live."

Munguia recalled many nights she slept with her daughter in a rocking chair to keep Lyla upright so she could breathe more easily.

The weakness of her lungs made Lyla a prime target for any influenza, particularly one as vicious as H1N1.

Although her death on Oct. 24 can't statistically be counted as an H1N1 death, the virus was listed as a probable contributing factor on her death certificate.

Dr. Peter Hasler, medical director and interim health officer for Santa Barbara County, said treatment for the H1N1 flu on any patient often has to be separated out from treatment for other health problems. Many of the victims of H1N1 so far have had chronic or long-term medical conditions.

All influenzas attack the lungs and H1N1 is particularly destructive, Hasler said.

"It impairs lung function, so it's harder for them to breathe or makes them breathe more rapidly," Hasler said. "The main problem with that is over time, if the infection gets severe enough, you suffer respiratory failure."

Medical treatment is to give patients oxygen or, if it is severe, put the patient on a ventilator.

Anti-viral drugs have no effect on the H1N1 virus, so the only thing physicians can do is keep the patient breathing until the virus runs its course. The H1N1 vaccine prevents the virus from taking hold, but once it is in a person, it doesn't help.

Once in the lungs, the virus is on its way to the blood system, where it can cause sepsis, which essentially inflames the entire body.

When she was admitted to Cottage Hospital, Lyla was dehydrated, her blood-oxygen level dropped and her kidneys failed.

The turn for the worse was shocking to Munguia, who said her daughter, after an initial illness, seemed to be getting better. Reoccurrence is one of the traits of the H1N1 flu.

"I started getting ready for her to come home," Munguia said. "All of the sudden, she turned really bad.

"I prayed as hard as I could. It's been hard. I miss her every day."

Munguia said she appreciated the care her daughter received from her pediatrician and personnel at both Marian and Cottage hospitals. She cautioned parents, though, about sending children to school if they are sick.

"I just don't want another baby to die. I don't want another mother grieving like I am," she said. "You got all of these kids. They come and go from Mexico all of the time."

Munguia said if children get the least bit ill, they should stay at home.

Lyla was a student in the Special Day Class in the Blochman Union School District that was closed last week because of the concerns over a swine flu infection. The Santa Barbara County Office of Education closed classes in the Blochman district and in the Santa Barbara Secondary School District over fears of the virus.

The classes reopened this week to healthy students and teachers.

Munguia said her daughter first began feeling ill a few weeks ago. As she had before, she took Lyla to her pediatrician, who had looked after Lyla since birth.

After exhausting a prescription of anti-viral medicine, Munguia said her daughter began feeling better, but added her 5-year-old son Ezequiel and 2-year-old sister Mickennah also came down with the illness.

Munguia had hoped to get her children vaccinated against the virus, but as for many parents around the country, the shots or nasal mist were not available.

Lyla's illness recurred, and her mother took her to the emergency room at Marian. She was transferred to Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, where she died.

The county Public Health Department can't attribute Lyla's death to the H1N1 virus because lab testing didn't show the virus in her system.

"Her death doesn't meet the criteria from the lab testing," said Susan Klein-Rothschild, spokesperson for county public health. "It doesn't mean she didn't have it."

Last week, 19 pediatric deaths statewide were attributed to H1N1, bringing the number to 114 for the year, according to the national Center for Disease Control. In two-thirds of those deaths, the victims had underlying heath conditions.

Munguia voiced her frustration over many issues associated with the swine flu she encountered following Lyla's death. She said some of her friends have employers who are not sympathetic to their needs to stay home with sick children or their own illnesses.

She said this epidemic should change the way people take care of themselves and their families.

"I don't want other mothers to have to go through what I'm going through," Munguia said. "We don't want to lose any more children."