OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) — Just months after becoming a grandmother for the first time, a 49-year-old Oceanside woman has died from complications related to the flu, her family says.
"She was my rock. She was my best friend," said her son Brandon Salgado.
Lauren Caggiano started feeling sick on a Thursday in mid-February with a cough and headache, Salgado said. Three days later, she was struggling to breathe and went to an Oceanside hospital, where she was diagnosed with the flu.
"She had double pneumonia. They intubated her Monday morning," Salgado said.
Sepsis followed, along with organ failure. Caggiano passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
"It's like a piece of you is gone. You're never going to get it back," Salgado said of losing his mother.
He described his mother as smart, funny and compassionate, as well as a dedicated dog mom and mom.
Caggiano, a former attorney and paralegal, had just become a grandmother six months ago, which Salgado called "the most joyful point for her."
"She always had a smile on her face when she saw the baby," he said.
Salgado believes his mother, who had no underlying medical conditions, had not received a flu vaccine this season.
Flu rates in the area have surged to a five-year high, claiming 150 lives from June 30, 2024, to Feb. 22, 2025 — more than twice the previous season.
On Monday, the County confirmed the fifth teen flu death.
"Get your flu shots, go to the doctor," Salgado urged. “Also, if she had gotten to the doctors earlier, she probably would be alive."
He said the flu "is serious and needs to be taken more seriously."
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Caggiano's family with funeral expenses.
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