Elderly at risk from RSV

The respiratory virus RSV, which has caused dozens of young children to be admitted to Palmerston North Hospital, is spreading through the district’s aged residential care centres.

So far five facilities in the MidCentral Health district have reported suspected cases of the respiratory syncytial virus and more than 50 operations have been postponed to free up beds.

Medical officer of health Rob Weir said by 2pm on Thursday 22 cases from aged care had been confirmed and another 86 elderly residents had symptoms.

Three people from two different care centres were admitted to hospital.

The board would not name the facilities, citing the interests of protecting residents’ privacy.

Increased numbers of admissions to Palmerston North Hospital, many with respiratory illnesses, have contributed to a decision to postpone all planned care, except for cancer treatment and the most acute cases.

MidCentral Health acute and specialist services operations executive Lyn Horgan said by 11am yesterday 52 elective surgeries had been put off to help free up inpatient beds.

Elective surgeries had also been put off in other hospitals around New Zealand, including Waikato and Christchurch.

Many hospitals had restricted visiting to children’s wards.

Weir said although RSV was not a notifiable disease, it was helpful that aged-care facilities had kept the public health team informed.

He said the centres had put their own outbreak response procedures in place and the public health unit was providing support to control the spread.

‘‘We appreciate the action taken by the facilities to notify us of their concerns and the subsequent actions being taken to minimise the spread.’’

This month, Palmerston North Hospital has been admitting six to eight children a day, with similar numbers seen in the emergency department who are not sick enough to require hospital admission.

Nationally, there had been more than 2543 cases, including 735 in the past week alone, more than twice the historical average for the time of year.

There is no vaccine to protect against RSV and treatment involves symptom relief.

Symptoms of RSV include a runny nose, decrease in appetite, coughing, sneezing, an often mild fever and wheezing.

In some cases, it could cause more serious illness such as bronchiolitis – narrowing of airways in infants – and pneumonia.

Weir said it was still important for people to ensure children were up to date with their vaccinations, as some protected against other respiratory conditions.

He said people in the community who felt unwell should stay at home, maintain high standards of personal hygiene and ask about taking a test to rule out Covid-19.

People could call Healthline for advice and should not visit a general practice without phoning ahead.

Free Covid-19 testing was available at general practices and at the designated testing site in Main St in Palmerston North.