Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://winnipegsun.com/News/Canada/2008/04/04/5193101.html
Mutation of the common cold linked to four deaths
57 others seriously ill at care home
VICTORIA, B.C. ? Four seniors died at a Nanaimo, B.C. care home earlier this year and 57 others developed serious respiratory infections as a mutation of the common cold swept through the facility.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority confirms an outbreak of human metapneumo virus, a recently discovered viral mutation, began Jan. 3 at Dufferin Place long-term care home.
It affected 61 of the 150 residents at the home over a six week period.
Bev Dobbyn, disease control manager for the health authority, says all the victims were elderly with chronic medical conditions, and the virus may have contributed to their deaths, but there?s no proof it was the cause.
Metapneumo virus was first identified in 2001 and has been linked to minor outbreaks at B.C. care homes and hospitals in 2006 and 2007, although it is most commonly found in children and causes irritation of the bronchial passages.
Rob Grey, whose mother is a long-time Dufferin Place resident, says the home provides excellent care, but he wonders why the health authority failed to provide more information about the severity of the outbreak.
Mutation of the common cold linked to four deaths
57 others seriously ill at care home
VICTORIA, B.C. ? Four seniors died at a Nanaimo, B.C. care home earlier this year and 57 others developed serious respiratory infections as a mutation of the common cold swept through the facility.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority confirms an outbreak of human metapneumo virus, a recently discovered viral mutation, began Jan. 3 at Dufferin Place long-term care home.
It affected 61 of the 150 residents at the home over a six week period.
Bev Dobbyn, disease control manager for the health authority, says all the victims were elderly with chronic medical conditions, and the virus may have contributed to their deaths, but there?s no proof it was the cause.
Metapneumo virus was first identified in 2001 and has been linked to minor outbreaks at B.C. care homes and hospitals in 2006 and 2007, although it is most commonly found in children and causes irritation of the bronchial passages.
Rob Grey, whose mother is a long-time Dufferin Place resident, says the home provides excellent care, but he wonders why the health authority failed to provide more information about the severity of the outbreak.
