3 more A/h1N1 deaths this past week- total 15

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/68919107.html

Three more dead of swine flu in past week

The H1N1 virus is so far linked to the deaths of 15 people in B.C.

By Jeff Nagel - BC Local News

Published: November 03, 2009 12:00 PM
Updated: November 03, 2009 12:25 PM


Another three people have died in B.C. of H1N1 flu over the past week, two of them in the Fraser Health region, bringing the total number of B.C. deaths to 15 so far.

The two new deaths in Fraser were an adult man and adult woman, both with major underlying medical conditions.

The third new death was in the Vancouver Coastal health region.

An additional 162 people were hospitalized with H1N1 flu over the past week, according to new statistics released today by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

That's an 81 per cent jump in H1N1 hospitalizations from 199 a week ago, bringing the total severe B.C. cases requiring hospital stays to 361.

Seventy nine of the new hospitalizations in the past week were in Fraser Health, while 50 were in Vancouver Coastal, 17 were in the Interior and eight each were in the North or on Vancouver Island.

So far 28 per cent of the severe cases in B.C. involve patients with no underlying diseases or medical conditions. The rest ? nearly three-quarters ? had varying conditions, including asthma, lung disease, weakened immune systems, diabetes or chronic heart or kidney disease

Twenty-five per cent of hospitalized cases have been admitted to ICU.

More details are to be released this afternoon by CDC officials.

[Tonka]

Re: 3 more A/h1N1 deaths this past week- total 16

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Three+more+H1N1+deaths/2179732/story.html

Three more people have died in British Columbia from illness associated with the swine flu, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

Two of the deaths were in the Fraser Health Region and one was in the Vancouver Coastal Health Region. One case was a sudden death that will require an autopsy, while the other two involved people with underlying health problems.

?As expected we have seen a jump in cases, severe cases and unfortunately in deaths,? provincial medical health officer Dr. Perry Kendall told a press conference Tuesday.

The CDC?s weekly report on the pandemic H1N1 outbreak gripping B.C. also shows a startling increase in the number of hospitalizations attributed to the virus in the seven days ending Nov. 2. Hospitalizations totalled 199 for the entire period from the pandemic?s outbreak in April to Oct. 26. But another 162 people were admitted to hospital last week alone.

Sixteen people, including a child from Yukon, have died in British Columbia since the outbreak began in April. Thirteen of the 15 British Columbians who died had underlying health problems, Kendall said.
?We are reassured to note that the character of the illness is not changing,? Kendall said. ?It?s predominantly mild to moderate and self-limiting.?

Kendall said the sharp rise in hospitalizations was expected as the second wave of the illness struck. He cautioned that even more hospitalizations and deaths are likely as the peak of the pandemic approaches.

?The health care system will show some strain and we are already seeing that in emergency rooms where people are showing up in large numbers,? Kendall said.

Hospitals are acquiring extra equipment and shutting down non-essential services to handle the rising number of flu cases requiring hospitalization and intensive care.

The province has ordered 25 additional ventilators to bring the total in B.C. to 992 units.

?The federal government has a stockpile of 500 fairly sophisticated ventilators which are kept in Ottawa,? Kendall said. ?We can access those relatively quickly should we need to, in less than 24 hours.?

As the number of people being hospitalized with swine flu has increased, hospitals are shutting down some ambulatory clinics, reducing day surgeries and postponing elective procedures. Children?s Hospital has already set up a flu assessment centre separate from the emergency room for children with flu-like symptoms.

Hospitals are also being hobbled by increased staff absenteeism due to illness, Kendall said. About 25 per cent of the staff at BC Women?s Hospital took time off due to illness last week.

All areas of the province are reporting H1N1 infection, with high absenteeism in schools in the north. Five schools in Kitimat have been closed for the balance of the week as absenteeism reached 40 per cent there, Kendall said.

By this time next week, clinics will have distributed 800,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine through 200 clinics, mainly to people deemed to be in the highest risk groups.

They include people under the age of 65 with chronic conditions such as asthma or diabetes or compromised immune systems, pregnant women past their 20th week, and those living in remote or first nations communities.

Also included are children aged six months to less than five years, some health care workers, and those who live with or care for infants aged under six months and/or care for immune-compromised people. The rules vary slightly between health regions.

Kendall said some clinics will shut down next week as the available supply of vaccine drops and efforts are concentrated on protecting pregnant women and front-line health care workers.

In response to the update, Dr. David Butler-Jones, chief public health officer of Canada, told reporters in Vancouver Tuesday that "every death and preventable death is one that is tragic and we wish we could avoid. We are working as hard as we can across this country and across the world to minimize that."

Butler-Jones added that "it's really important that all the measures that we have in play, that we do them. People who are sick should avoid other people. If they get more seriously ill, they need to get medical treatment. If they have underlying risk conditions, get on anti-virals.

"And when it comes time to get your vaccine, get it for yourself to protect yourself and others."

Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, also in Vancouver, defended the decision by Ottawa and the provinces to develop a pandemic strategy based on a single vaccine supplier, GlaxoSmithKline.

"We are doing better on a per capita basis than any other country that has more than one factory," said Aglukkaqu.

Butler-Jones similarly said that "other countries with multiple suppliers are having much more difficulty than we are as we move forward."

Aglukkaq said that every Canadian will have access to the vaccine by December.

rshore@vancouversun.com

With files from Doug Ward