Concerns over flu outbreak death toll in nursing homes

SBS World News Radio: Federal health authorities are demanding answers after a second nursing home reported a spate of deaths from Australia's worst flu outbreak on record.Six elderly residents have died at Tasmania's Strathdevon aged care facility following seven fatal cases in Victoria.

Concerns over flu outbreak death toll in nursing homes

Concerns over flu outbreak death toll in nursing homes

The Turnbull Government wants to know if more could have been done to prevent them.

Despite ninety-five per cent of its residents being vaccinated, the Strathdevon aged care facility is mourning the loss of six elderly men and women diagnosed with influenza A.

Management at the centre in the northern Tasmanian town of Latrobe say staff did everything possible to minimise the impact of the outbreak but it couldn't prevent 31 of the 37 residents coming down with the virus.

The latest tragedy follows revelations seven people aged between 70 and 94 died following an outbreak at Wangaratta's St John's Retirements Village in one of Victoria's worst flu seasons ever.

Federal Aged Care minister Ken Wyatt says he's instructed his agency to meet with the Victorian health unit and St John's to determine whether the deaths could have been prevented.

"Because any loss of life within aged care is something that does concern me, particularly when it's influenza. I would encourage people to get a vaccination, get their flu injection, if you work within places where you are in contact with people who are vulnerable, people who are likely to have an adverse effect from influenza. But equally, family members who had the flu - at least wear a mask, or don't come in while you are in that infectious period."

AMA Victoria President Lorraine Baker says the elderly are particularly vulnerable to this variety of the flu.

"This is a very virulent strain of Influenza A. If this particular virus attacks, as it can do, the lungs, you know, kidney function, your liver function - it's a whole-body infection - then those people with a compromise of those systems are more likely to die."

She says it's not just influenza A that's been causing health issues across Australia.

"There's also a number of respiratory illnesses that cause a disease very similar to the flu, and you can catch - be unlucky and catch any one of those during the winter months in particular, the peak season for those illnesses, and there are also bacterial infections which seem to seek out people who have recently had the flu and settle into their lungs and cause another form of infection of the lungs, and a form of pneumonia, and so somebody who has recently had the flu may be much more vulnerable to a bacterial pneumonia."

After discussions with the chief medical officer, minister Wyatt and Health Minister Greg Hunt are expected to make a statement on nursing home vaccinations in the next few days.

Mr Wyatt says some standards may need to be strengthened.

"Do we also need to look at what emerging patterns are occurring within the aged care sector, in which standards are not being met? But I'm confident that the work that the agency is doing, our department, and aged care providers, is the type of work that provides a safe environment for people. But there are aspects where something goes wrong and I want to make sure that we don't have that happen repeatedly in the future."

The Aged Care Minister wouldn't rule out offering free or subsidised workplace vaccinations in the aged care sector.

"Look, we'll consider all the options. No option is ruled off the table, because the paramount thing for the Turnbull Government is that we protect citizens in our country from any form of virulent infection, and we'd certainly be looking at what it is that we need to consider with some degree of immediacy to ensure that we don't have similar outbreaks elsewhere."

More than 105,000 flu cases have been confirmed nationally - the largest number ever diagnosed in one season.

In Victoria alone, cases have doubled on this time last year to almost 12,000.

And the key message from doctors as we farewell winter - it's not too late to get vaccinated.

 

 

 






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4 min read
Published 2 September 2017 7:00pm

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