Flu-stricken inmates unhappy with treatment

Photo by Whitehorse Star

The flu has made its way into the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.

With one H1N1 confirmed case and results of further tests pending, three inmates have found themselves in isolation.

Department of Justice spokesman Dan Cable confirmed the case to the Star this morning, noting the department is following all its protocols in dealing with infectious disease.

“We have established protocols about it,” he said in an interview.

But two of the inmates are taking issue with the direction chosen to deal with their cases at the jail.

Shaun Naidu said in an interview today he woke up feeling sick last Saturday.

By Monday, he was so ill he felt like he couldn’t walk. When he told a nurse, she took a swab, but he was then sent back to a dorm of more than 20 people.

When officials finally decided that Naidu and the two others showing flu-like symptoms would be placed in isolation, they were put into the area known as “max” and told to clean it up.

Both Naidu and Phelippe Lamarche describe it as the dirtiest area at the back of the jail.

“I’m getting sicker,” said Lamarche, who is still waiting for lab results to determine whether he has the H1N1 virus.

While Naidu is now feeling better, he argues those with the flu should be put in the medical dorms rather than the section he and the two others are in.

“We want something to change,” he said, noting he understands he and others with the flu should be in confinement, but not in the area they are.

Cable said the medical confinement area is there for inmates who are in more of a medical emergency situation. He also pointed out that inmates are responsible for cleaning up their areas on a regular basis.

“We do need the medical dorm,” he said, noting staff have been following the medical procedures for the facility.

“We’ve done all that we can,” Cable said. While precautions are taken, including making the vaccine available to all inmates and staff, he added, there’s still the possibility the flu will spread, as is the case everywhere.

“It’s something we plan for,” he said of outbreaks of illness in the population, noting that steps are taken to keep it at bay as much as possible through things like vaccinations.

But both Naidu and Lamarche believe more should have been done.

Naidu noted that despite telling a nurse he believed he had the H1N1 virus, he was still taken back to the dorm of 20-plus inmates.

Lamarche also noted he believed Naidu was in a condition last Saturday that should have seen jail staff send him to hospital.

As it stands now, he said, it seems staff don’t even want to approach them.

“All the guards are scared to come see us,” he said.

There also seem to be mixed messages about when they will be sent back to the general population. While one nurse said it would be five days, another told them seven days, both men said.

Cable said how long an inmate stays in isolation depends on their individual condition.

Along with the confirmed case at the jail, Brendan Hanley, the territory’s medical officer of health, also confirmed the territory’s first serious case of H1N1. A young, elementary school-aged student from Whitehorse has been sent down to Vancouver for treatment.

Hanley noted the girl was presented as a pneumonia case and was confirmed as having H1N1 before being flown to Vancouver.

As of Thursday afternoon, she was still in intensive care and on a ventilator.

As of yesterday across the territory, 5,800 people had received the H1N1 vaccine.

Hanley is also continuing to remind Yukoners that if they are generally healthy but come down with the flu there isn’t a need to visit a doctor. Rather, they should stay home. He also pointed out lab testing for H1N1 is being done only in certain cases.

Pat Living, the Department of Health and Social Services’ spokeswoman, said this morning Yukoners should be assured that the territory is not in danger of running out of the vaccine.

“We have more than enough,” she said, noting officials have been fielding calls from residents who have learned of areas Outside that are running out of the vaccine.