Six deaths at Halifax nursing home linked to respiratory illness outbreak

The week before Gordon Taylor died, he was just as active as ever.

The 98-year-old participated in all the activities organized by theHalifax nursing homewhere he lived. He had just completed a jigsaw puzzle with his wife, Sharon, and she had just taught himhow to play Jenga.

"He was an engineer, so he was very interested in that," says Sharon.

But one afternoon earlier this month, Sharon went to Arborstone Enhanced Care on Purcells Cove Road to visit him and noticed something that made her worry.

"I heard him cough, twice, and I knew we were in trouble."

Just a couple of days later, Gordon died.

Virus can be fatal

He is one of six Arborstone residentswho died in the past two weeks after contracting a common respiratory infection. All six residents lived on the same floor.

For most people, respiratory syncytialvirus is a mild virus that simply causes cold-like symptoms. But for the elderly, it can be fatal.

"No one said the words RSV," says Sharon. "There wasn't any talk about there being anything going on until Gordon was very ill."

It was only when Sharon starting speaking with the nursing staff at Arborstone that she realized the problem was more widespread.

"They said there were around 30 people that were sick and quite a few people had died and things were difficult."

Health authority notified

Staff at Arborstone notified the health authority on April 4 that RSVwas circulating on one of the floors. More cases were reported on a second floor less than a week later, a spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Health Authority said in an emailto CBC News.

The health authoritysaidArborstone has reported that it has measures in place toprevent the further spread of the illness andto protect other residents, staff and visitors during the outbreak.

The facilityis currently closed to new admissions. Tests are underway to determine whetherthere are other respiratory illnesses spreading in the nursing home that may have contributed to the deaths.

Arborstone spokespersonKatherine VanBuskirktold CBC Newsin an emailed statement that Arborstoneis re-evaluating the outbreak status each day.

"In addition, our practice is to make clients and family aware by communicating with signage throughout the building. We do not restrict access to the building, but encourage family members to limit their visits to their loved ones' rooms and encourage staff to stay on the floor where they are working."

Informing the public

Sharon says she does remember seeing a sign near the nursing home's elevator mentioning RSV, butit would have been easy for a casual visitor to miss it.Amore prominent way of informing visitors ofoutbreaks mighthelp contain their spread, she said.

While long-term care facilities must report outbreaks to the Nova Scotia Health Authority, those outbreaks aren't always reported to the general public, says Dr. Trevor Arnason, the medical officer of health for the Halifax, West Hantsand Eastern Shore areas.

Notifying the general public is done based on the need.- Dr. Trevor Arnason, medical officer of health

"We get dozens of outbreaks reported each year from long-term care facilities mostly respiratory outbreaks and enteric or gastrointestinal outbreaks," Arnason said. "Notifying the general public is done based on the need."

Arnasonsaid it's difficult to say for sure how many of the deaths were caused by RSV, since residents at long-term care facilities are being treated for multiple illnesses and are at the end stages of their lives. But he confirmed that the six residents did have RSV.

Twenty-nine residents were affected by the outbreak, and although there has been a decrease in the number of new cases reported to the health authority, it isn't over yet, Arnason said.

Staff shortages

Sharon says the death of the six residentsis "certainly very tragic."

"It bears looking at to see if there was any way that we might prevent that type of thing from happening."

While Sharon saysstaff at the nursing home are excellent, she feels there aresimply not enough of them.

"Ithink there's always a resource issue atArborstone, as there probably is at most nursing homes and a lot of the assisted-care homes, too. They don't have enough nurses. There's no question," saysSharon, a former professor of nursing herself.

She wonders ifthere had been more staff, her husband's illness could have been caught earlier.

"Who's to say it would have made any difference?"

But Gordon lived a very full life, Sharon says.

"He really, really wanted to make it to 100. We were thinking he was going to get there."