The St. Vincent’s Nursing Home in Halifax knows just how fast Norovirus can spread after an outbreak struck their facility this past weekend.
“The number of residents that have been affected so far is 62, which is a significant number and we are hopeful that we are on the downswing so far so hoping things will get better in the next week,” says Ken Rahmen, St. Vincent’s Nursing Home CEO.
The home has 146 residents and currently 33 of them have active symptoms. From the first symptom, residents undergo isolation to prevent the spread.
“We have closed off all our recreation activities and the dining room is closed, and of course staff are masking, gloves, gowns and all the usual IPAC precautions,” says Rahmen.
The care facility is still open for family visits. Masks and sanitizers are available upon entry.
Health officials say during the respiratory season, most activity is in long term care homes as it tends to couple with what is passing through the community.
“This year has been very busy for the number of outbreaks we have had and it has increased significantly over the last several weeks and that tends to mimic what we are seeing in the community at the same time,” says Dr. Ryan Sommers, a Public Health physician.
In Eastern Passage, Ocean View Continuing Care Centre is currently closed to the public after an influenza outbreak.
“We are collaborating closely with Public Health authorities and our dedicated staff to prevent the spread of the virus and ensure the health and safety of our residents. As a precaution, we are temporarily closed to the public until the outbreak is officially declared over by Public Health,” says Suzanne Wambolt with Ocean View administration
Menna MacIsaac with the Nursing Homes of Nova Scotia Association says there only has to be one positive case of any virus for a nursing home to use their protocols.
“There are protocols from Infection Control Canada and Public Health so as soon as the first resident tests positive for COVID, influenza or RSV, right away the nursing home goes into these protocol practices,” says MacIsaac.
Sommers says peak season for influenza is typically in January, but this year it was in March.
“The biggest agent this year that’s causing headaches for the health-care system is influenza virus or flu right now. COVID activity is quite low. The other major virus that causes a lot of respiratory illness is called RSV. That activity is low as well. That was higher several weeks ago but right now it’s influenza that’s driving a lot of the illness,” says Sommers.
Sommers says every year we see a different type of flu viruses and some are more virulent and active than others. He says this seems to be the case this year and there are a number of reasons why.
“We know because of the pandemic there is a bit of a vaccine fatigue and we are not seeing the same numbers of vaccine uptake compared to previous years. So people aren’t getting vaccinated and prone to getting infection and getting really sick as well,” says Sommers. “We do have a lot of chronic diseases in our province. There’s a lot of people out there that have diabetes, heart issues so that makes them prone as well. But this is a pattern we have seen in other parts of the world.”
Sommers says although we have peaked, there are still cases out there so if someone gets a vaccine it could benefit them until the end of the respiratory season. Anyone who gets sick is encouraged to avoid contact to minimize the spread.
“We always encourage them to reach out to their own primary care provider whether that’s their own family doctor, a nurse practitioner or a fully practicing nurse. We still have a lot of great resources where people can contact through the phone or virtually, there’s 811, there’s virtual care. We have walk-in clinics, urgent care centres and then pharmacists are an option as well,” says Sommers.
As warmer weather moves in the Maritimes, officials say influenza cases should be coming down. Norovirus numbers should also drop, but Sommers says there could be spikes when day camps start or events this summer. There could also be new bugs to watch for this summer.
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