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Hospitals admit more flu cases
Beecher Bay child, Victoria adult ill; scare on the wane at Shawnigan Lake
By Richard Watts, Times ColonistSeptember 23, 2009 2:02 AM
Two more patients with H1N1 flu have been admitted to hospital, including a child from the Beecher Bay Indian Reserve, which already has seen one death from the illness.
Shannon Marshall, Vancouver Island Health Authority spokeswoman, said the two cases -- a Victoria-area adult and the child, under six -- were admitted late last week.
As of tomorrow, new hospital cases will be reported weekly on the health authority's website.
Meanwhile, of the two flu-stricken children admitted to hospital last week, one has been sent home, also to Beecher Bay Reserve, 30 kilometres southwest of Victoria. The other child from up-Island, a more serious case, remains in hospital.
Last Wednesday, a woman from the Beecher Bay Reserve died in Victoria General Hospital. The woman had aggravating health problems.
She was Vancouver Island's first death from H1N1 and the sixth in B.C. Since the disease reached B.C. in April, after it first appeared in Mexico, the province has reported 50 severe cases.
B.C. public health officials are now taking measures to deal with the pandemic, including distributing anti-viral medicine. They are also expecting federal authorities to deliver an H1N1 vaccine in November.
Meanwhile, after seeing numbers of flu-like illness drop off at Shawnigan Lake School this week, the school might soon relax its containment measures.
Headmaster David Robertson said yesterday that five of the school's 446 students were reporting new flu-like symptoms, down from last Wednesday, when 30 to 40 students were ill.
In all, about 130 students have been reported ill with varying degrees of severity, from fevers to colds.
A test result has now confirmed the presence of H1N1. But Robertson said school officials didn't wait for the confirmation. One student with diabetes, an aggravating health condition, was sent home and containment measures were begun.
That meant Shawnigan Lake School's senior soccer squad missed out on a trip to Victoria last week, where they were to have witnessed basketball star Steve Nash receive an honorary degree from the University of Victoria.
"They were extremely disappointed," said Robertson.
Otherwise, he said, the school is functioning normally. "Our fields are filled with kids doing sports and classes are filled with students."
rwatts@tc.canwest.com
Beecher Bay child, Victoria adult ill; scare on the wane at Shawnigan Lake
By Richard Watts, Times ColonistSeptember 23, 2009 2:02 AM
Two more patients with H1N1 flu have been admitted to hospital, including a child from the Beecher Bay Indian Reserve, which already has seen one death from the illness.
Shannon Marshall, Vancouver Island Health Authority spokeswoman, said the two cases -- a Victoria-area adult and the child, under six -- were admitted late last week.
As of tomorrow, new hospital cases will be reported weekly on the health authority's website.
Meanwhile, of the two flu-stricken children admitted to hospital last week, one has been sent home, also to Beecher Bay Reserve, 30 kilometres southwest of Victoria. The other child from up-Island, a more serious case, remains in hospital.
Last Wednesday, a woman from the Beecher Bay Reserve died in Victoria General Hospital. The woman had aggravating health problems.
She was Vancouver Island's first death from H1N1 and the sixth in B.C. Since the disease reached B.C. in April, after it first appeared in Mexico, the province has reported 50 severe cases.
B.C. public health officials are now taking measures to deal with the pandemic, including distributing anti-viral medicine. They are also expecting federal authorities to deliver an H1N1 vaccine in November.
Meanwhile, after seeing numbers of flu-like illness drop off at Shawnigan Lake School this week, the school might soon relax its containment measures.
Headmaster David Robertson said yesterday that five of the school's 446 students were reporting new flu-like symptoms, down from last Wednesday, when 30 to 40 students were ill.
In all, about 130 students have been reported ill with varying degrees of severity, from fevers to colds.
A test result has now confirmed the presence of H1N1. But Robertson said school officials didn't wait for the confirmation. One student with diabetes, an aggravating health condition, was sent home and containment measures were begun.
That meant Shawnigan Lake School's senior soccer squad missed out on a trip to Victoria last week, where they were to have witnessed basketball star Steve Nash receive an honorary degree from the University of Victoria.
"They were extremely disappointed," said Robertson.
Otherwise, he said, the school is functioning normally. "Our fields are filled with kids doing sports and classes are filled with students."
rwatts@tc.canwest.com
