H1N1-related death in Guelph

[B.C.]

H1N1-related death in Guelph

Email the author Email the author

November 05, 2009

GUELPH?Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health is reporting the H1N1-related death of a man in his 20s.

A news release Tuesday afternoon states he died at home while visiting family who live in Guelph. An autopsy performed on Wednesday, October 28, suggested a preliminary report of influenza A. The Public Health Lab confirmed Tuesday the cause was the H1N1 virus.

?We extend our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of this young man,? Dr. Nicola Mercer, medical officer of health, said in the release. ?Most flu illness is mild. However, severe illness and death are part of this pandemic.?

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/557763

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: H1N1-related death in Guelph

Guelph records first H1N1-related death


November 05, 2009
Greg Layson
glayson@guelphmercury.com
GUELPH ? Dr. Nicola Mercer, medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, confirmed Thursday a 23-year-old man died of complications stemming from H1N1 while visiting family in Guelph.

The man?s name has not been released by the health unit.

?At this point in time we have no evidence of the young man having an underlying medical condition,? Mercer said.

Mercer wouldn?t disclose the exact cause of death but did say it ?was consistent with other causes of death related to H1N1.?

Because all forms of influenza are respiratory illnesses, the most common cause of death is an infection of the lungs, Mercer said. The membrane of the soft tissue of the lungs gets thick and full of fluid and then oxygen exchange isn?t able to occur.

An autopsy performed Oct. 28 suggested influenza A was the cause of the man?s death. But the Public Health Lab confirmed Thursday the cause was the H1N1 virus, making him the first H1N1-related death in the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph region.

?We have to keep in perspective the very big picture,? Mercer said. ?There are thousands in this age group . . . who have had H1N1 and we know that the vast majority recovered at home.

?I don?t want the public to be frightened by this.?

Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews said Wednesday the province will run out of vaccine by the end of this week. She wouldn?t name the day the province is expected to run dry.

Quebec manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline is to supply the federal government with an estimated 1.8 million doses Monday, Mercer said. The federal government will then divvy those doses up between the provinces and territories, which will then courier them to health units.

?We?ve been told to expect them to arrive Wednesday at the earliest. It should be at least 3,000 (doses) but that depends on the total number of doses the province receives,? Mercer said. ?Until we actually physically run out of the vaccine, we?ll continue to vaccinate the priority groups.?

Pregnant women are of the highest priority. Thousands of people have received H1N1 vaccinations since public flu-shot clinics opened a week ago today in the area.

There are two versions of the vaccine ? one has compounds that boost the immune system response to the vaccine, allowing lower doses to be used. However, there are fewer clinical tests of the effects of compounds on pregnant women.

On Tuesday, the health unit received 1,700 doses of the version of the vaccine without the booster compounds from an Australian source through the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Another 3,000 doses of vaccine with the booster compound were scheduled to arrive this week, Mercer said. And an unknown number of doses are expected to arrive in Guelph late next week.

Pregnant women have the option of being inoculated with either version of the vaccine. But Mercer said they will not be moved to the front of the line.

?I don?t think we?ll run out at all for pregnant women,? Mercer said. ?And we haven?t fast-tracked any group of people.?

Mercer said people who have not yet been vaccinated should check flu-shot clinic locations and wait times at the board?s website: www.wdghu.org.

With files from the Canadian Press

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/557979

[Pathfinder]

Re: H1N1-related death in Guelph

H1N1 victim had big dreams
<!-- SPACER DIV FOR SPECIAL ASSOCIATED STORY MUST REMAIN EMPTY-->
<!-- ################################################## ###### --><!-- LANDSCAPE IMAGE FOR THE ARTICLE-->
<!-- ################################################## ######### -->November 06, 2009

<!-- AUTHOR 1 -->Greg Layson
<!-- CREDIT 2--><!-- ARTICLE CONTENT-->

GUELPH ? Nicholas Henry Klassen aspired to be prime minister of Canada.

But he never got that chance.

At the age of 23, Klassen died in his sleep in the early hours of Oct. 27. He succumbed to complications from the onset of the H1N1 virus, said Dr. Nicola Mercer, medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.

Klassen is the first person in the Guelph area to die of the virus.

Klassen, who was born in North Bay, was a social science graduate of the University of Ottawa. He had recently moved to Edmonton to be with his girlfriend, Paige Atkinson, and his twin brother, Richard. He was in Guelph visiting his mother, Susan Klassen.

?He was a wonderful and caring individual,? Susan said Friday in a phone interview. ?He had a lot of promise. He wanted to be the next prime minister of Canada.?

Klassen?s younger sister, Erin, wrote his obituary for the North Bay Nugget. She described him as ?warm hearted, intelligent, unfailingly considerate and widely admired for his sincerity and charm.?

Klassen developed a cough Oct. 23. The following day, his fever spiked at 104.6 F. He and his mother went to Guelph General Hospital?s emergency room.

Susan Klassen said her son had to complete several medical and information forms because he was in the process of changing from Ontario to Alberta health-care coverage. She said her son was then seen by a triage nurse and his temperature had receded to 39.5 C, roughly 103 F.

?We should be at home and not spreading germs around ? that was the general attitude we received at the Guelph General,? Susan Klassen said.

?They basically said that the fever wasn?t high enough (for him) to even be there.?

After waiting more than an hour without seeing a doctor, Klassen insisted he and his mom return home. They left the hospital ?sometime before midnight.?

?He was regarded as low priority. Things weren?t moving and he was tired. He just wanted to go home,? Susan Klassen said.

Guelph General Hospital?s chief executive Richard Ernst said Friday hospital records show Klassen?s wait time ?was very brief.?

Ernst said Klassen was triaged, registered and called in to be seen by a health-care provider all within 17 minutes.

?Absolutely not,? Susan Klassen said. ?We sat right by the nurses? station and we were never called.

?We then told someone we were leaving. I even asked if there were exit papers we needed to sign.?

Nicholas Klassen was scheduled to return home to Edmonton the next day, but his mother decided he was too ill to travel and rescheduled his flight.

She said his condition neither worsened nor improved after the trip to the emergency room.

?I considered going back to the hospital but he was somewhat reluctant to do that,? Susan Klassen said.

She said she heard her son moving around at about midnight on Oct. 27.

But when she went to check on him at 6:30 a.m., he was dead.

?I rescheduled his flight from Sunday so I could take care of him,? Susan Klassen said between sobs. ?You just assume someone?s going to get better from something like this, like they have every time before. But this time, he just didn?t get better.?

Klassen was what doctors would consider obese, his mom said.

According to the Ministry of Health, serious obesity is considered a chronic condition. That would have put Klassen in a high priority group for the H1N1 vaccination.

Susan Klassen felt Guelph General Hospital?s emergency room staff wasn?t aware that her son?s obesity put him at a higher risk of illness and death from the H1N1 virus.

?I do think the more information people have will be of help,? Susan Klassen said. ?I would like to see the front-line people at the hospital more knowledgeable about risk factors.?

According to the Ministry of Health, there are 11 underlying chronic conditions ? including heart disease, asthma and diabetes ? which elevate the risk of complications due to H1N1.

?Any risk is taken into consideration,? said Eileen Bain, Guelph General?s vice-president of patient services. ?I can?t speak to that specific case because I don?t know who was ahead of him. We see the most critical patients first. If they?re growing sicker while they wait, they?re encouraged to let the nurse know.?

Bain said Guelph General Hospital?s protocol is to have a registered nurse assess patients, including a respiratory evaluation. After the initial assessment, the nurse assigns the patient a triage level.

?We have been seeing very, very high number of patients with flu symptoms,? Bain said. ?They?re triaged and seen as anyone would be.?

The hospital has opened a flu assessment centre on Delhi Street.

?That?s an ideal place for patients to present their symptoms,? Bain said.

?If people are unwell and not getting better, they need to come to emergency.?

Susan Klassen said Nicholas had not been vaccinated against H1N1, but his twin brother, Richard, has been.

?I have no thoughts on whether people should be vaccinated,? she said.

?That?s everyone?s personal choice.?

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/Local/article/558368