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August 30, 2010
VICTORIA - Following extensive testing and investigation, the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) and the BC Centre for Disease Control have concluded that the illness that affected 21 people at Glengarry Hospital in April and May of this year was not caused by a viral outbreak.
Tests conducted by BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) included a ViroChip scan, which tests for every recorded virus (there are over 22,000 of them). Tests revealed viruses in only two cases - one Corona virus and Respiratory Syncticial virus (RSV) – both on different units at the site and neither related to the other. There was no infectious agent identified for this outbreak. As sometimes happens with respiratory outbreaks, it has been identified only as an “influenza-like illness”.
VIHA did comprehensive chart reviews on all cases to determine if there were any common attributes among the 21 people who had respiratory symptoms. Of these 21 cases, 10 people died, including five people who were considered palliative prior to coming down with the respiratory symptoms.
Reviews of all the deaths suggested that aspiration pneumonia may have been responsible for or contributed to the death in several of the cases. Aspiration pneumonia is caused when you inhale something other than air into your lung (usually food, liquid or vomit). It is more common among the very young and older, frail people who have difficulty swallowing or coughing. Several of the individuals who experienced respiratory symptoms had also suffered from Norovirus, which had broken out in the site in the weeks prior.
A respiratory outbreak was declared at Glengarry Hospital (Chandler Unit) on April 22, 2010 after an increase in the number of people who were experiencing respiratory symptoms. The respiratory illnesses followed on the heels of a Norovirus outbreak that was declared on April 6 and which affected 39 of the 140 residents. The Norovirus outbreak left many of the frail, elderly residents weakened and much more vulnerable to the effects of respiratory symptoms.
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Media Contact:
Shannon Marshall
VIHA Communications
250-370-8270 |
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