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Photos: The story of one victim

Miguel Romo holds his 6-month-old daughter, Virginia Bernice. Romo's wife died of pneumonia, believed to have been a complication of the H1N1 virus she caught last spring at the dawn of the outbreak. Romo's death in many ways typifies the pandemic: She was young, poor, pregnant and Latina.

Miguel Romo holds his 6-month-old daughter, Virginia Bernice. Romo’s wife died of pneumonia, believed to have been a complication of the H1N1 virus she caught last spring at the dawn of the outbreak. Romo’s death in many ways typifies the pandemic: She was young, poor, pregnant and Latina.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

5-year-old twins Giovanni and Yareli

In their Santa Ana apartment, 5-year-old twins Giovanni and Yareli tend to their baby sister, Virginia Bernice. After the death of their mother, Virginia, their father is raising six children alone.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Virginia Bernice

As Romo holds Virginia Bernice, 12-year-old Cristian tends to the altar for his mother. Though H1N1 was not as lethal as first feared for the general population, it has been lethal for pregnant women. They have been hospitalized at four times the rate of the general population and have died at six times the average rate.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

For his mother

Cristian Romo at the altar that pays tribute to his mother, Virginia. Early on July 5, his father, Miguel, got a call from the hospital where Virginia was staying. She had gone into acute respiratory distress. The baby was delivered by emergency C-section, a few weeks premature but otherwise healthy. Over the next weeks, Virginia’s condition worsened, and she died July 22.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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Miguel Romo

Miguel Romo feeds his youngest. He says of his late wife: “She was always so healthy. I don’t know what happened. I don’t understand.”  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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