National alert on mystery deaths

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National alert on mystery deaths

 

29.08.2003

By SCOTT MacLEOD

Hospitals have been placed on high alert over a mystery disease that has killed

three people. Two died within an hour of collapsing.

Health authorities said last night that they were startled at the sudden deaths

of two women and a man in Dunedin and were " very concerned " that the disease

killed so quickly.

They issued a nationwide alert, mostly to warn hospitals to watch out for

symptoms but also to find out whether the disease had spread beyond Dunedin.

At a press conference last night, they ruled out Sars as a cause but said they

had no idea what killed the three - or even whether it was contagious. They

urged people to be careful with hygiene, to curb a possible spread of the

disease.

Otago medical officer of health Dr John Holmes said the dead people were aged 40

to 60 with no other potentially fatal health problems.

They seemed to have died from heavy bleeding into the lungs, although one woman

who lingered for 12 hours in hospital showed some pneumonia symptoms.

" They were well, and we would not normally expect them to die suddenly, " he

said. " It's an extremely unusual situation. "

The Director-General of Health, Dr Karen Poutasi, said all New Zealand hospitals

had been asked to be on the lookout for similar deaths.

" We have asked all health boards to be put on alert, " she said. " This is a very

low number of cases, but the ministry wants to know whether there are more. "

Dr Tim Blackmore, of the Institute of Environmental Science and Research, said a

major effort had been made to isolate and identify the disease, but scientists

in several laboratories had drawn a blank.

Authorities yesterday refused to give details of the deaths to protect

relatives, but said the three died within 10 days of one another.

Last night, the grieving husband of one victim warned people to watch carefully

for signs of illness.

" I think anyone who feels unwell should go straight to ER or their doctor and

get checked, for God only knows what, because when this kicks in you haven't got

a lot of time, " said the man, who did not want names or other details published.

His wife had some meningitis-like symptoms in the week before her death, but

that had been ruled out as a cause, he said.

The death had left him, their three children and grandchildren with a huge hole

in their lives, made worse by the lack of any explanation for the untimely loss.

" I don't know how or why she died.

" Whatever happened was very, very sudden. There wasn't any warning as such. It

happened within half an hour's time from what we can pin down. "

The couple were married for 35 years.

Asked why it took so long to alert the public to the disease, Ministry of Health

spokesman Peter Abernethy said it took time for authorities to realise what they

were dealing with.

" It's only when you get cases in a cluster that you treat it as unusual. "

Doctors said all three people were from the same part of Dunedin, but there was

no indication they knew one another or had travelled overseas this year.

Two had " almost literally dropped dead " , said one doctor at the conference.

The third, a woman, collapsed after seeing her doctor and was revived.

But she died 12 hours later in hospital.

Dr Holmes said a detailed investigation into the deaths was being done for the

coroner. It would include detailed talks with relatives and the diagnosis of

specimens.

He urged doctors who were dealing with patients showing unusual symptoms to use

gloves, gowns and masks.

A Dunedin Hospital spokesman said tests to pinpoint the cause of death were

continuing.

Tests had been run for almost every known virus, with no result so far.

Samples were being sent to the United States Centres for Disease Control in

Atlanta for testing.

The centres had suggested several diseases, but these did not occur in New

Zealand and none developed as rapidly.

Hospitals in Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury confirmed last night that they had

been alerted and were watching for symptoms.

In Auckland, a regional pandemic committee will meet this morning. Auckland

medical officer of health Dr Craig Thornley said the meeting would help share

information among the three health boards in the region, the GP network and St

John Ambulance.

- NZPA, Additional reporting: Patrick Gower and Natasha Harris