Tweet
At least 100 staff at Capital and Coast District Health Board have caught swine flu.
The disclosure comes as health staff go on "red alert" after the death of a nurse from the highly contagious virus. The woman, 39, is believed to have worked in Hutt Hospital's children's ward. She died of a rare complication on Monday after 11 days in intensive care.
The health board said yesterday that 100 out of 4500 staff in the Wellington region had tested positive for H1N1, about the same number calling in sick as at this time last year. The board set up a phone line for staff to call when off work sick, and used it to gather data on whether they had flu symptoms.
Craig Jenkins, from the Nurses Organisation which represents more than 42,000 workers, said the death was a "red alert" for others in the industry. "Nurses have been in contact with H1N1 on the frontline, some have contracted H1N1."
The hospital gave staff with symptoms the option of taking Tamiflu, he said.
Public health deputy director Darren Hunt said Tamiflu stocks were not being used as a precaution dose for healthcare workers but to treat those suffering from illness.
By yesterday, New Zealand had 2797 confirmed cases of of swine flu, and 13 people had died.
The disclosure comes as health staff go on "red alert" after the death of a nurse from the highly contagious virus. The woman, 39, is believed to have worked in Hutt Hospital's children's ward. She died of a rare complication on Monday after 11 days in intensive care.
The health board said yesterday that 100 out of 4500 staff in the Wellington region had tested positive for H1N1, about the same number calling in sick as at this time last year. The board set up a phone line for staff to call when off work sick, and used it to gather data on whether they had flu symptoms.
Craig Jenkins, from the Nurses Organisation which represents more than 42,000 workers, said the death was a "red alert" for others in the industry. "Nurses have been in contact with H1N1 on the frontline, some have contracted H1N1."
The hospital gave staff with symptoms the option of taking Tamiflu, he said.
Public health deputy director Darren Hunt said Tamiflu stocks were not being used as a precaution dose for healthcare workers but to treat those suffering from illness.
By yesterday, New Zealand had 2797 confirmed cases of of swine flu, and 13 people had died.
Comment