30 patients and 10 deaths in an adenovirus epidemic in New Jersey

All except one are children whose immune systems are weakened and who have other serious medical problems, many of which need help to breathe and function, at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Cancer. rehabilitation in Haskell, New Jersey.

Confirmed cases became ill between September 26th and November 5th, according to the Department of Health. The number has increased from 18 cases, including six deaths, announced last month by the Department of Health.

A staff member was also affected by the epidemic but recovered.

The outbreak in the Wanaque facility was caused by type 7 adenovirus. This type is "most often associated with acute respiratory diseases," according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other types of adenovirus infections can cause flu-like symptoms, pinkeye and diarrhea.

The health department also announced Monday that a new case of adenovirus had been discovered in children in a second New Jersey facility, the Pediatric Voorhees Institution, bringing their number to five. However, the CDC tests suggest that the culprit is a type 3 adenovirus, a strain different from that of Wanaque.

Patients at Voorhees Institution became ill between October 20th and 29th. An inspection conducted last week by the state health department revealed no problem of infection control and no citation was given.

"The Department and local health partners are working with the facility to make recommendations for infection control and to identify other possible diseases since [Voorhees] On October 26, the New Jersey Medical Center, Shereef Elnahal, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health, announced in a statement Monday that his establishment was informed of a case of adenovirus in a resident's home.

Health officials say that they are stepping up their efforts to strengthen the fight against infections in such establishments in the state. The health department announced last week its intention to deploy this month a team of infection prevention experts to the University Hospital and four pediatric long-term care facilities, including clinics. Wanaque and Voorhees institutions. infections.

"Epidemics in institutions are not always preventable, but in response to what we've seen in Wanaque, we are taking aggressive action to minimize the risk of occurrence among New Jersey's most vulnerable patients," Elnahal said. a statement released last week.

Adenoviruses are often transmitted by touching a contaminated person or surface, or by air while coughing or sneezing. They are known to persist on soiled medical surfaces and instruments for long periods of time. They may not be eliminated by common disinfectants, but they rarely cause serious illness in healthy people. However, people with compromised immune systems have a higher risk of contracting a serious illness and may remain contagious long after recovery, according to the CDC.

Symptoms can appear two to 14 days after being exposed to the virus, the State Department of Health said.

Infections and deaths occur amid questions – former Wanaque Center employees, the mother of one of the deceased children and Elnahal himself – about whether the current standards of facilities are sufficiently high and if any other measures could have been taken to prevent this.

Elnahal had previously said in a statement that the results of a recent unannounced health inspection conducted at Wanaque's premises "raise questions as to whether these general standards of long-term care are optimal for this vulnerable population of". Children who are medically fragile ".

"We must also ask ourselves if we can do more, as health officials, to protect immunocompromised children, such as those served at the Wanaque Center," he said. "Every year in the state, there are hundreds of outbreaks in health facilities."

In statements last month, the Wanaque center said it was working alongside health experts to investigate the outbreak and that it "promptly informed all concerned government agencies when the virus had been identified for the first time ". According to state health department spokeswoman Nicole Kirgan, on October 9, health officials were informed of a respiratory illness in the facility, which informed the parents 10 days later October 19th.

The facility has not responded to calls and emails from CNN for additional comments.

The facility has been "charged with not admitting new patients until the end of the epidemic and that they are in full compliance," according to the health department of the ########################################################################> 39; State. Public health officials said the outbreak could only be declared after four weeks without further case.

"It can be difficult, if not impossible, to know how the virus has arrived in the institution, what is the source or what is its specific mechanism of spreading from one person to the other", said Elnahal.