6 children dead in N.J. rehab center outbreak

A severe viral outbreak at a New Jersey rehabilitation center for “medically fragile children” has left six youngsters dead and 12 others sick, the state Health Department said Tuesday.

There have been 18 cases of adenovirus at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Haskell, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of New York, the New Jersey Health Department said in a statement.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an email that no one was available to comment on how unusual it is for six adenovirus deaths in such a population of patients.

The strain afflicting the children is usually associated with acute respiratory illness, according to the CDC, which on its website instructs health workers to report unusual clusters to state or local health departments.

The Health Department didn’t release the ages of the victims or address the severity of the illness in the other dozen cases.

The six deaths happened this month, according to Health Department spokeswoman Donna Leusner.

The facility was instructed not to admit new patients until the outbreak ends, and the Health Department said the number of new cases appears to be decreasing.

Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said these

kinds of fatalities are not common, but they’re known to happen.

“Here I think you have this kind of nasty combination of very fragile children and this particularly aggressive virus,” he said.

The strain in the New Jersey outbreak is No. 7 and is affecting “medically fragile” children with severely compromised immune systems, according to the Health Department. It has been associated with communal

living and can be more severe

A scientific paper cited by the CDC reported that a 1998 outbreak of type 7 adenovirus at a pediatric chroniccare facility in Chicago claimed the lives of eight patients. The 2001 paper said civilian outbreaks of the type 7 infection had not been frequently reported because of a lack of lab resources, and that the full impact on chronic-care facilities and hospitals is likely underestimated.

JULIO CORTEZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Police cruisers are seen parked near the entrance of the Wanaque Center For Nursing And Rehabilitation, where New Jersey state Health Department confirmed the 18 cases of adenovirus, Tuesday in Haskell, N.J. The outbreak has left six children dead and 12 others sick. The facility has been told it can’t admit any new patients until the outbreak ends. Adenoviruses usually just cause mild illnesses. But officials say this outbreak is particularly severe because it’s affecting medically fragile children with severely compromised immune systems. They also note this strain has been particularly associated with disease in communal living facilities.