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Shizuoka hospital influenza outbreak leaves 2 dead, 101 infected

22 Comments

A total of 103 patients and staff at Shizuoka Saiseikai General Hospital in Shizuoka Prefecture contracted influenza between Dec 23 and Dec 26, hospital officials said.

Of the total, two patients died as a result. Hospital officials told a news conference that over the three-day period, 41 patients and 62 staff were infected with influenza type A, TBS reported Saturday. Two elderly patients who had been admitted for pneumonia later died after the influenza exacerbated their condition.

Although an investigation into the source of the virus is underway, the majority of patients and staff who became infected were concentrated on the fourth floor of the west wing of the hospital.

In an effort to prevent any further outbreaks, the hospital has stopped all new patients from being allowed admittance into the west wing, and is restricting contact between infected individuals and others.

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22 Comments
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Searching for a source of the influenza virus during flu season? Who writes articles like these? And as Type-A is one of the three most common strains, are we to assume that none of the infected had ever been inoculated for any of the common strains, at a hospital yet?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Inoculations!? Come on, Jeff, they were all wearing masks.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

When I was half dead with influenza type B, the stupid nurse insisted I wait together with the other patients. In the 1.5 hours wait to get my pills (after a one minute consultation by the"doctor") I'm sure I infected tens of people...this was not happening in some third world country but in Tokyo, Japan...

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Ebisen, agree. The standard of care is ridiculous in J-hospitals. Of the 5 or 6 I've been in, nurses & doctors went from patient to patient, room to room, without washing, without changing gloves. When my son was born, ALL of the babies and most of the mothers were infected with MRSA, due to sloppy management.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Sorry to hear about all this influenza. It may get worse. Hospital care ... sometimes it is a one minute chat and out you go .. NEXT!

I had a malignant tumor in the back of my thigh surgically removed in January and my doctor said he got it all. Well, he did not and the people reading whether the tumor was benign or malignant got that wrong also. It was not until October that I noticed a new growth. I was sent to Kanagawa's Cancer center (nen no tame ni - just in case) and lo and behold, my original hospital got it wrong. Out came the malignant tumor again that had grown to be larger than a golf ball, but had not spread to other parts of my body. I received EXCELLENT care and understanding at this hospital, so highly recommend anyone to go there if they should be so unlucky to think they have cancer. Best hospital I have ever been to and brand new. Sad everyone is wondering if they have cancer or are being treated for cancer. My lesson from all this. Get a SECOND OPINION for sure especially if it cancer. I was one of one hundred thousand to have this this rare form of cancer in the location it was and I am jubilant that the doctors got it removed successfully. Happy New Year everyone!

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Sorry, but many hospitals in Japan are a joke. It is outrageous that a flu outbreak would occur inside a hospital, and utterly inexcusable that two people are killed by it. Doctors and nurses know that the flu is contagious, they know that victims should not be kept close to other people, and that there are basic protocols for cleanliness and treatment which must be followed. People don't go to a hospital to get sick, and if they do, such a hospital must be either shut down, or the incompetent clowns who are running it should be sacked, and replaced with people who have at least half a working brain.

3 ( +8 / -5 )

odd focus, it was the pneumonia that did the job, so really a pneumonia outbreak?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They were probably told to gargle warm water and then spit it out into the sink, splashing their germs around the surrounding area....

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Japanese hospitals are only clean for the first five or ten years after they're built. After that, they become nasty quickly. I paid a visit to an old friend, that I hadn't heard from for a few years, who I heard was in a city hospital with late stage cancer. 12 years ago, when my two year old daughter had a benign growth removed there, it was only a few years old and quite clean. I was shocked how run down, dirty, and nasty it had become. It skeeved me out just breathing the air. Loads of Purell/alcohol spray stations, though, all of which I used.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Chivk: (If they did not got influenza nor vaccinated this year is extremely easy to get the disease.) Well 62 hospital staff DID get influenza and they are all required to be immunized. Is this an example of how well the influenza vaccines are working?

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Avoid hospitals if at all possible.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Chivk: (you cannot expect an universal vaccine, and if you are not vaccinated against a specific variant there will be no prevention.)

(it is not possible to vaccinate against all possible strains that could become epidemic) Lol, You just explained another reason why influenza vaccines will never work well. All of the hospital staff are required to be vaccinated, yet MORE hospital staff got influenza than the actual patients. (found out already the EPA guidelines for Ethylmercury? or was it that the vaccine are a lot over it another lie?) Sorry I didn't respond immediately but my Father in law took priority over you. Yes, I did find the EPA guidelines for maximum exposure to mucury and maximum allowances in water. There are two influenza vaccines that tested above and beyond those guild lines. Don't forget that big pharmacy is one of the largest lobby groups (bribery groups) in America, they have great influence on EPA, CDC, & FDA. Here is an example of lack of over site, with testing levels of mucury found in flu vaccines. Look up, emails from CDC and FDA on vaccines and mercury www.ageofautism.com/2007/12/emailsfrom-cdc-html

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

It is you who has missed the point of your own post. You have directly explained one of the many reasons why influenza vaccines don't work. It's impossible to target the exact strain, so randomly giving a vaccine that doesn't match, is completely useless. I never claimed ANYTHING has a 100% success rate! only that the drug companies can only claim 60% success at best and that is there own findings, not independently back up or confirmed! Secondly, As I've said all along, there are many different formulas but it's the MUCURY within those vaccines which IS dangerous. Your just using deflection and change of subject to avoid the findings. Similar to those E-mails from CDC & FDA. You also avoided admitting that bid drug companies are some of the largest bribery groups in America. They have direct influence of every link of info you've produced. They even lobbied (bribed) to have "death" listed as a "side affect", though they won't even say that directly, it's two sentences that try to lighten the word death. Illegal blood sampling? They don't have the big money lobby protection of big drug companies, if they were guilty of what you say, I'm sure they would be jailed.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

I went to a doctor this morning with my son who has a virus. The care and professionalism was as good as I have ever experienced. Simply outstanding.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Chivk: Again with deflection, lol. Where did I accuse the doctors of conspiracy? That's right, I didn't. I did point at the Pharmicutcle industry though.There is no conspiracy by doctors, they do not have the time to do independent reaserch for the thousands of different drugs that the Pharmicuticle industry continuously present them with. They hear what the sales reps have to say and read what is said on the labels supplied by the drug companies.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

In three days!! or did I read wrong. Omg.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The quality of Japanese hospitals varies so much. I have been in some luxurious hospitals that were utterly spotless, I've visited quite a few that were spotless where you could easily see dirt but were quite dirty as soon as you looked a bit harder and I have seen some that look like refugee camps. Not sure why this is. I would say that currently Japan has a fairly good record when it comes to MRSA. Also worth noting that the quality of care and kindness that you generally find in Japanese hospitals is second to none.

I wonder if it's an another example of the Japanese tradition of not hiring professional cleaners but expecting all workers to clean their bit. Which in reality tends to result in them doing a very half hearted job while being distracted from their real work. Glad to see more and more firms contracting proper cleaners. I also notice there are a lot of older people hired as cleaners and I wonder about their eye sight and attitudes to hygiene (I don't mean personal I mean in terms of technical infection control).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I went to a local hospital in the summer and there was an old git, who looked about 200 years old, smoking and coughing freely into the air, in the reception area. And nobody, staff or patients waiting, said a word.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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