A gastrointestinal illness (GI) at Williams Lake Seniors Village that broke out on Dec. 28 is almost under control, said Sheri Brown, director of sales and marketing for Pacific Reach Seniors Housing Management.
“There is currently only one case as reported by the community,” Brown told the Tribune. “We continue to monitor any new cases and isolate residents in order to managed the spread of infection. We restrict families and outside guests, admissions and minimize transfer of resident back to community from hospital.”
While Seniors Village is the only residential facility in the Cariboo region presently battling a flu outbreak, Interior Health’s Active Facility Outbreaks page notes there are GI outbreaks at four other locations and 10 locations with respiratory infection outbreaks.
Brown said at Seniors Village, staff are following the organization’s policy on outbreak management in collaboration with the Interior Health’s protocol.
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Other measures they do to control the spread of infections, she noted, are to wipe all surface including equipment after use with approved disinfectant, stop all group programs, isolate residents, employ strict hand hygiene in between resident care, use personal protective equipment and properly dispose soiled items.
In a health bulletin issued at the end of December, IH noted GIs are most commonly caused by viruses and bacteria and the illness is spread from person to person through germs in the stool or vomit of infected people.
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Medical health officer Dr. Karin Goodison, told the Tribune in an e-mail in December that this year’s influenza vaccine is slightly different from last year’s vaccine and will protect against influenza: A/H3N2, A/H1N1, and either one or two strains of influenza B, depending on which vaccine people receive.
The best way to protect yourself, Goodison said, is to get the flu shot, wash your hands frequently through the day, especially after sneezing and coughing, cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue and stay home if you are sick.
Interior Health was not able to confirm how many people have been vaccinated so far this flu season, but noted in an e-mailed response that 10,100 doses of influenza vaccine were distributed within the Cariboo region to public health clinics, physicians’ offices and pharmacies.
The actual numbers will be analyzed at the end of the flu season.
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