CAMARILLO : 3 More Patients Hit With Pneumonia
Another three Camarillo State Hospital patients have come down with pneumonia, bringing the total to 55 patients and staff who have become ill with the disease since mid-June, officials said Thursday.
Dr. Jeffrey D. Klausner of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been at the hospital since Tuesday investigating the outbreak.
Klausner said the investigation by the hospital, Centers for Disease Control and state Department of Health Services is continuing.
So far, 48 patients and seven staff members also have been diagnosed with mild or “walking” pneumonia, but they have responded well to antibiotics, Klausner said. No cases have been life-threatening.
The illness, believed to be caused by an airborne virus, appears to spread from person to person after close contact, such as sharing sleeping dorm rooms and performing clinical care in the acute medical facility.
Hospital officials have isolated ill patients, changed air filters in the ventilation system, required masks and hand-washing by medical staff caring for the ill patients and attempted early diagnosis and treatment.
Symptoms include fever, lethargy, malaise and dry cough, Klausner said.
The Camarillo State Hospital and Developmental Center has about 850 patients and 1,600 staff members.
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