All information can be attributed to Dr Nick Baker, Chief Medical Officer, Nelson Marlborough Health
Nelson Marlborough Health is asking people not to visit patients in Nelson or Wairau hospital if they are unwell or have
any cold/flu symptoms.
Visitors are also restricted from visiting patients in children’s wards, maternity wards and special care baby units
(excluding a patient’s parents, partner or other guardian).
People with hospital appointments are asked to phone ahead and let the relevant department know if they are unwell. They
may be offered a phone or video appointment instead, or asked to wear a facemask when they come in for their
appointment.
These moves are necessary to help protect vulnerable patients and also hospital staff, as viruses such as respiratory
syncytial virus (RSV) are causing respiratory illness in our region.
While Nelson Marlborough Health is not yet seeing the same level of hospitalisations caused by RSV that some other
regions are, it is important that we protect young children and infants from the virus. While an increase in respiratory
illness caused by viruses is normal for this time of year, DHBs are experiencing an increase in seriously-unwell infants
this year compared to 2018 and 2019, due to the fact that children under the age of two were not exposed to many viruses
last year because of the 2020 lockdowns and closed borders. This means that they have had less chance to develop
immunity and might be affected more by viruses.About RSV
RSV is a common virus that affects all age groups but is especially severe for infants less than one year old, for older
people and people who are immunocompromised. It is very infectious and can easily pass from person to person through
coughing and sneezing. For older children and adults it typically causes a worse-than-average cold.
People infected with RSV are usually contagious for five to eight days. It is most easily spread from people who are
coughing and sneezing a lot and are in the earlier stages of the illness. However, some infants and people with weakened
immune systems may spread the virus for longer so they need to be very careful not to mix with infants under one and
vulnerable people, while they are still infectious with symptoms.RSV symptoms and what to do if you have them
RSV symptoms include a runny nose, decrease in appetite, coughing, sneezing, fever (often mild) and/or wheeze. In some
cases, it can cause more serious illness such as bronchiolitis (narrowing of airways in infants) and pneumonia. Very
young infants (especially premature babies and those exposed to smoking), older adults and those with chronic medical
conditions are more at risk.If you have RSV-like symptoms and are concerned or are getting worse, you should contact your GP or Healthline (0800 611
116) for assessment and advice.Early medical advice is especially important for those with underlying medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes,
cancer, heart and lung disease and some autoimmune diseases, or for severely overweight people and pregnant women.Do not return to childcare, school or work until your symptoms have resolved.When to seek urgent advice
Parents and caregivers should seek urgent medical advice if a child has symptoms and also:is under three months oldis breathing fast, noisily or is having to use extra effort to breathelooks pale and unwellis taking less than half their normal feedsis vomitinghas not had a wet nappy for more than six hours
Parents and caregivers should call 111 for an ambulance if a child:has blue lips and tonguehas severe difficulty breathingis becoming very sleepy and not easy to wake upis very paleis floppyhas breathing that is not regular, or pauses in breathingHow to prevent the spread of RSV and other virusesKeep children home when they are unwell; they should not attend day-care centres or kindergartenCover coughs and sneezes with a tissueRegularly wash hands with soap and water for at least twenty second and dry them thoroughly.Use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser if hand washing facilities are not available.Avoid close contact with sick people.People with underlying medical conditions who are at increased risk of complications are strongly encouraged to avoid
contact with sick people and have good hand washing practices.If correctly worn, masks are valuable to both prevent spread from infected people and reduce the risk of getting
infected if you are close to people who may be infectious