Eleven flu deaths reported in Berrien County this week

NASHVILLE - A flu outbreak at a Berrien County nursing home claimed the lives of 11 elderly patients this week.<br> <br> The outbreak, which began in the Berrien County Nursing Center, also spread to the adjacent Berrien County Hospital, officials said.<br> <br> &#34;We&#39;ve had 11 deaths since Tuesday _ seven out of the nursing home,&#34; said Bob Lovein, Berrien County&#39;s coroner.<br> <br> &#34;I&#39;ve been here 36 years and I&#39;ve never seen it like this. It is very unusual,&#34; he said.<br> <br> The hospital&#39;s chief nursing officer, Dan Pearce, said any nursing home resident who qualified for a flu shot had received one, and that the facility, licensed for 63 beds, was following standard precautions used to prevent airborne contaminants.<br> <br> &#34;I think you will notice that most of these people were elderly and had multiple health problems, other than normal respiratory isolation,&#34; Pearce said, adding that he would have to review all the patients&#39; charts to determine who had received the vaccine.<br> <br> Dr. Stuart Brown, acting director of the Georgia Division of Public Health, said that these flu deaths show that the virus is &#34;very unpredictable and easily transmissible from person to person.&#34;<br> <br> The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend flu shots for all people age 50 and older, nursing home residents, children 6-23 months, pregnant women, people with chronic health problems and certain health care and day care workers.<br> <br> However, when the vaccine was scarce a few months ago, healthy people under 65 were urged to forgo the shot. The CDC reported earlier this month that about 59 percent of older Americans got shots in 2004, down from 65 percent in 2003.<br> <br> A recent study released by the National Institutes of Health last week suggested that giving flu shots to the elderly has not saved any lives, showing that the vaccine has been more effective in younger people. Although the study challenges standard government dogma, the CDC has said it won&#39;t affect their flu shot recommendations to the elderly.<br> <br> The influenza season traditionally peaks in February each year. Most of the 36,000 people who die each year of flu-related causes are elderly.

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