The norovirus that swept through a Victoria care home over the past three weeks rarely causes death on its own and most healthy people recover in two to three days, B.C.’s provincial health officer said.
Perry Kendall said the main risk is dehydration from vomiting and diarrhea, which is why the virus can be more serious for the very young and the elderly or those with compromised immune systems.
“It just adds to the burden of somebody who’s already in partial organ failure and not very resistant,” he said.
“It rarely kills on its own, but through dehydration or just stressing somebody whose bodily systems are not functioning very well anyway, it can help to push them over the edge.”
The Vancouver Island Health Authority says 100 residents and 50 staff at Selkirk Place fell ill from the virus in the past three weeks.
There have been nine deaths at the facility during that time, but those have not been attributed to the virus as many residents are already frail and have multiple health conditions.
Kendall speaks from experience when he says the norovirus is “very uncomfortable.” He has been infected twice with the highly contagious virus, which the Provincial Health Services Authority says is the most common cause of acute gastrointestinal illness in the world. The sickness is sometimes referred to as “winter vomiting illness” because infections occur primarily from November to April.
“The symptoms are like a staphylococcal food poisoning where you get a really rapid onset of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea,” Kendall said.
“So you’re pretty much laid up for a day or two and you feel pretty slow for another day.”
B.C.’s public health microbiology and reference laboratory stated in a report on the norovirus this year that the best way to prevent the spread of the illness is to wash your hands frequently and stay home when you’re sick.
“Hand hygiene is the single most effective way of preventing the transmission of infections,” the report said. “Because micro-organisms can be spread by anyone, hand hygiene is everybody’s responsibility: staff, patients, residents, visitors and volunteers.”
B.C. health officials noticed an increase in outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness late in 2012 due to the emergence of a new strain of the norovirus, known as Sydney, to which many people had yet to develop an immunity.
The outbreaks extended beyond residential care facilities to hospitals, daycares and food establishments, the report said.
lkines@timescolonist
