H1N1 patient dies on southern Vancouver Island

[B.C.]

H1N1 patient dies on southern Vancouver Island


September 17, 2009 11:01 AM

Victoria - Health authorities today confirmed the death of a patient from the south island area due to the H1N1 flu virus (also known as human swine flu).

?The patient was admitted to Victoria General Hospital on September 5, 2009 with severe respiratory illness?, stated Dr. Richard Stanwick, the Vancouver Island Health Authority's chief medical health officer.

?Subsequent tests from the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) confirmed H1N1," he stated in a news release.

The patient was from a high-risk group and had underlying health conditions, which predisposed the patient to increased severity of illness due to infection.

Education and protective supplies are being provided to the affected community and relevant schools, the news release states. Tamiflu is been made available to individuals requiring treatment.

? Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

http://www.timescolonist.com/health/H1N1+patient+dies+southern+Vancouver+Island/2004382/story.html

[B.C.]

Re: H1N1 patient dies on southern Vancouver Island

HEALTH AUTHORITY SAYS SWINE FLU DEATH A WOMAN FROM THE BECHER BAY FIRST NATION

Sep 17, 2009

THE CHIEF MEDICAL HEALTH OFFICER ON SOUTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND HAS CONFIRMED THE ISLAND HAS SEEN ITS FIRST FATALITY FROM H1N1 INFLUENZA...BUT RICHARD STANWICK HAD LITTLE NEW INFORMATION TO OFFER AT A NEWS CONFERENCE ON THE SUBJECT...

"the patient did belong in a high-risk group, and had pre-existing medical condition that pre-disposed this adverse outcome. The individual is female, and from the South Island"

THE WOMAN WAS A MEMBER OF THE BECHER BAY FIRST NATION. STANWICK SAYS HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN ON THE RESERVE FOR THE PAST THREE DAYS MAKING SURE RESIDENTS ARE AWARE OF STEPS THEY CAN TAKE TO SLOW THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS.

STANWICK EMPHASIZED THE CASE DID NOT COME "OUT OF THE BLUE"...HE SAYS H1N1 HAS BEEN IN BRITISH COLUMBIA ALL SUMMER. AND IS LIKELY PRESENT IN EVERY COMMUNITY.

HIS COUNTERPART ON NORTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND, DR CHARMAINE ENNS, SAYS AN ARTICLE IN THE CANADIAN MEDICAL JOURNAL CONCERNING AN EXTRAORDINARY OUTBREAK IN THE ABOIRIGINAL VILLAGE OF AHOUSAT IS "ERRONEOUS...INFLAMMATORY...AND IRRESPONSIBLE".

- FRANK STANFORD

http://www.cfax1070.com/newsstory.php?newsId=10562

[B.C.]

Re: H1N1 patient dies on southern Vancouver Island: Sixth deaths in B.C. from swine flu

One death as H1N1 hits Vancouver Island: Sixth deaths in B.C. from swine flu


By Suzanne FournierSeptember 17, 2009 1:25 PM


Dr. Charmaine Enns addressed the outbreak of H1N1 in Vancouver Island communities.

Swine flu has claimed the life of a woman from the Beecher Bay First Nation on southern Vancouver Island.

It is the first death to occur on Vancouver Island and the sixth death in B.C. from the H1N1 flu virus, VIHA Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Richard Stanwyck confirmed in a hastily called news conference Thursday morning after a Canadian Medical Association Journal news story reported an H1N1 outbreak in Ahousaht, a remote aboriginal community that lies just off northern Vancouver Island.

The woman was admitted to Victoria General Hospital on Sept 12 with severe respiratory illness, said Stanwyck.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control confirmed H1N1 in the woman, who ?was from a high-risk group and had underlying health conditions . . . which predisposed her to increased severity of illness due to infection,? he said.

A pediatric case of swine flu, also from Beecher Bay, has put one child in hospital who is doing well, but a second non-native child from Vancouver Island, also in hospital with swine flu, is still in intensive care ?in critical condition,? Stanwyck said today.

?I want to extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of this woman,? said Stanwyck, asking reporters to ?respect the community?s privacy. ?They wish to grieve in private.?

Dr. Charmaine Enns, VIHA medical health officer, said Ahousaht has four relatively mild cases of swine flu and all the patients have recovered. Enns downplayed as ?sensational and inaccurate? the CMAJ ?news? item.

Enns said the widely reported CMAJ article came as a ?complete shock,? adding she thinks ?there is no news there, since swine flu in probably present in all communities and that?s why the World Health Organization declared a pandemic.?

However, Stanwyck noted that the recent ?upsurge? of swine flu cases is ?coming on us early,? since it was predicted for mid-October, but he added, ?we are not in Wave 2 of the virus where it is widely present in the community.?

He said the cases ?provide an opportunity to intervene early? with public health advice about hygiene, such as using hand sanitizers, and the dispensing of Tamiflu by physicians to those in identified high risk groups, which include pregant women, children under five, health-care workers and people with asthma or lung conditions.

Stanwyck said no vaccine for swine flu is predicted before mid-November but he said VIHA has been promised 90,000 courses of flu treatment, such as Tamiflu, and he hopes the vaccine reaches high-risk groups in time.

Both Stanwyck and Enns confirmed that aboriginal people living on-reserve are considered to be in a high-risk category, due to poor housing conditions and overcrowding, such as been widely reported in Ahousaht.

But Enns said there is a nurse-practitioner in Ahousaht today dispensing Tamiflu to those who need it in a bid to stem a more widespread viral infection that could be difficult to handle in a reserve where most medical evacations are by air, ?and that is only if weather permits.?

According to a report last week from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control B.C. has had 48 cases of severe H1N1, with the most recent death bringing the toll to six deaths.

H1N1 is a new strain of influenza arising last year. Last June the World Health Organization declared the new strain had reached Level 6 pandemic proportions, meaning it was being passed easily from human to human.

Stanwyck said swine flu is ?quite unmistakable? with aching joint aches, fever, sore nose and throat and respiratory symptoms. ?Nurses and doctors can now quite readily tell if they are presented with a case of swine flu.?

sfournier@theprovince.com

http://www.theprovince.com/death+H1N1+hits+Vancouver+Island+Sixth+death/2004844/story.html

[Pathfinder]

Re: H1N1 patient dies on southern Vancouver Island

First H1N1 death on Island confirmed

Published: September 21, 2009 3:00 PM

An adult female from Beecher Bay First Nation, west of Victoria, has become the first person on Vancouver Island to die from the H1N1 virus.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority confirmed the patient, 29, died at Victoria General Hospital Wednesday afternoon after being admitted with a severe respiratory infection Sept. 12.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control confirmed the death was caused by the virus.

A pre-school child related to the woman is being treated in hospital for flu symptoms that have not been confirmed as H1N1, and is in good condition.

Another Vancouver Island pre-schooler, from a different community, is in VGH in critical condition with flu symptoms and is suspected of having H1N1 said Dr. Richard Stanwick, VIHA?s chief medical health officer.

Stanwick said the woman who died belonged to a high-risk group and had a pre-existing health condition that pre-disposed her to more severe infection, but would not provide specifics.

?This is the first death from H1N1 in the Vancouver Island Health Authority (and) the sixth death in B.C. from this particular disease,? said Stanwick.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/nanaimonewsbulletin/news/60042677.html

[cartski]

Re: H1N1 patient dies on southern Vancouver Island

Stanwick said the woman who died belonged to a high-risk group and had a pre-existing health condition that pre-disposed her to more severe infection, but would not provide specifics.


http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver.../60042677.html

Why not?

If the person is not identifiable, there's no invasion of privacy.

If the underlying condition is part of a part that increases severity, releasing that info is in the public interest, even if the victim is ultimatly identified.

If the next of kin can make extremely important decisions about the care of the victim, why can't they be asked to allow the medical officer to publicly release the underlying condition?

J.