The virus kills seven children at the New Jersey Medical Center



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Seven children are now dead from a serious viral outbreak in a medical center in Pbadaic County, the New Jersey Department of Health said Wednesday. Haskell, NJ The for-profit facility provides treatment for medically fragile children, including those who use ventilators and feeding tubes, and who receive palliative care. According to state data, there are 92 long-term care beds for children

Normally, an adenovirus, which is easily transmitted by touching, coughing or sneezing, would cause mild illness accompanied by symptoms similar to colds in healthy people. Health officials said the adenovirus strain No. 7 at the Wanaque Center was badociated with common lifestyles and that it was dangerous for people whose immune system was weakened.

Trigger. A spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Health asked the facility not to welcome new patients until the end of the outbreak.

The spokeswoman for the Department of Health said that public health protocols were respected and that sick patients had been separated from others. in good health, and the proper processes of washing, disinfecting and cleaning hands are followed. There are also signs at the facility that the outbreak is continuing, she said.

The children, all of whom died this month, had between the ages of a child and a young adult, most under the age of 18, according to the report. the spokesperson of the Department of Health. The agency was informed for the first time of a respiratory illness in the facility on October 9, she said.

The spokeswoman declined to clarify when the outbreak began, whether the elderly are infected and when the first patient died.

The Wanaque Center released a statement Wednesday that the center is actively working with local and US disease control authorities to implement aggressive protocols and procedures to treat those affected and prevent the spread of the disease. l & # 39; infection.

The center took "immediate and comprehensive measures to implement all available infection control and prevention measures," the statement said.

Write to Melanie Grayce West at [email protected]

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