Vancouver: Severe strain of pneumonia claims 3 lives

[Harpsong]

Pneumonia bug hitting Downtown Eastside hard
December 01, 2006 - 5:27 pm
By: Lyle Fisher



VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Some of society's most vulnerable are getting hit by a nasty pneumonia bug that has already claimed three lives. People living on the Downtown Eastside are getting hit especially hard. The surprising thing is the people who did die, weren't elderly, they were men in their 30s and 40s, living in Canada's poorest neighbourhood.


Vancouver's Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. John Blatherwick says it's causing a big crunch in local hospitals because intensive care unit beds are already filled up. The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is doing it's best to get people in the neighbourhood immunized, but because of a vaccine shortage only those who need it most are getting the shot.

[Harpsong]

Re: Pneumonia in Vancouver

Good example of surge capacity...

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Pneumonia sends chill through Vancouver-area hospitals
Last Updated: Friday, December 1, 2006 | 1:00 PM PT
CBC News
There has been a spike in the number of cases of pneumonia in Vancouver in the past few months, according to an internal memo sent to doctors in Vancouver and Richmond.

In that memo obtained by CBC News, senior physicians warn the additional cases are putting a strain on critical care hospital beds in the region, and that surgeries may have to be cancelled, or transferred to other hospitals as a result.
The problem was first noticed in August, when middle-aged people, many of them from the Downtown Eastside started showing up at hospitals with a strain of pneumonia usually found in the elderly.

Officials say there have been 70 such cases, which are treatable with antibiotics. Some of the patients had already gone into septic shock, and the recovery time can range from two to four weeks.

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority spokeswoman Viviana Zanocco said this has put a strain on already-busy hospitals.

"So it does present us with some challenges in terms of moving patients through the hospitals. We are finding a bit of a crunch for critical care beds throughout the health authority."

The health authority has added a pneumonia vaccine to its annual flu shot campaign in the Downtown Eastside to try to tackle the problem at the source.