SR AE eae a TR Ret a Poet Le en Dae

PIR Sy Et,

‘There has been.no death
in this hospital,” says‘Kean,
Infection “Control Nurse. at

Lions Gate’ Hospital.
Medical-; Health Officer

*, Driv W.E:.MacBean of the
“North” Vancouver Health

: Department says no one has
‘died ‘from~ Legiczinaires on
the North Shore.

One Legionnaires patient,
41-year-old Gail Taylor of
Bowen Island, was admitted
to. Lions. Gate- Hospital two
“weeks | ‘ago‘and: is now mak-.
ing. 4 strong recovery, “but:
she is the only Legionnaires
patient we've had,’’ Kean
says...
oe And although we believe”

' she has’ Legionnaires disease, ”.

we-are still not 100 per cent:

_sure until we receive the final.
reports from provincial labs, ©

which could take up to three
“weeks.”

:Symptoms for the
bacterial ‘pneumonia include
malais, weakness, fever and

dry cough, and are treated
with antibiotics.

Admitted to intensive care
with a temperature of 104
degrees, Taylor ‘‘was very
ill,’’ says hospital ad-
ministrator John Borthwick,
“*but she has responded well

to the antibiotics.’ What I~

find .absolutely amazing,
though, is how the media’s

picked -up on this. A few:

years ago it might have been

news, -but not now. It's.a.
real social phenomenon, all
this interest. Maybe it’s:

because people haven’t
heard about it.” :
Says Kean: ‘‘An awful
fuss is being made about
nothing. It’s: a. fairly com-
mon, . perfectly ‘treatable

disease. There’s:- been a_
whole lot of overreaction.’ -..:

It’s not an exotic. disease

there are lots ‘of. cases in-

other. hospitals, Actually, 30
percent of most pneumonias
are Legionnaires,”

Asa non-drinker, non-
smoker with no respiratory
problems, ‘Kean says Taylor
does not fit the stereotyped
victim: of:: Legionnaires

‘disease, ‘“‘but’ it’s. like
‘anything,’’ she adds; “it. de-

pends on the susceptibility
factor in “people, ° if. they’re
possibly run down.”
Borthwick says most peo-
ple will be concerned
whether the disease: is con-
tagious which he reassures it
“Legionnaires is. not
spread from. person,to per-
son,”’ Kean explains. —
“The most usual places it
has been identified in the
past are in’air conditioning
units, and standing water

. supplies.”

The. disease. was" named .
after the -36. American

“Legion . conventioners’ who

died after. contracting the

“disease © in Philadelphia in

1976.

FELL OFF
CLIFF

Only minor injuries

A 14- YEAR-OLD West Vancouver youth who
fell 20 feet into a Cypress Creek ravine Sunday
escaped with only minor injuries.

Louis Garret, a resident
of the 4200 block of
Rockend Place, was climb-
ing in the. lower Cypress
Creek Canyon near his home
Sunday evening when he
slipped and fell to the can-
yon bottom.

He suffered a suspected _
sprained foot and lacerations

on his arm as a result of the
tumble, which one fire of-
ficial described as ‘‘ 20-foot
free-fall’,

West Vancouver. fire.

department responded to
emergency calls with a
fiveeman canyon rescue
team.

| By MARK HAMILTON |

One man rappelled down
a 100-foot bank to reach the
youth and determine the ex-
tent of his injuries.

The firefighter then walk-
ed the youth to an area
where the climb up would be
easier, fitted him into a
harness and the youth was
hauled to the top of the can-
yon wall — a distance of
about 70 feet — by the other
members of the rescue team.

Garret was checked at the
scene and, other than the
minor injuries, was found to
be in good condition.