A 6-year-old boy with severe H1N1 symptoms who was transferred from a New Brunswick hospital to the IWK Health Centre was listed in fair condition yesterday.
The province’s chief public health officer, Dr. Robert Strang, confirmed the child had been admitted to hospital in Moncton over the weekend, and was later airlifted to Halifax when his condition deteriorated. The boy’s name has not been released.
Strang said that as far as he knows, it’s the first time a child has been transferred from another province to IWK as a result of the H1N1 virus.
“It’s certainly the first one I’m aware of,” Strang said. “I have pretty good collaboration with my counterparts in New Brunswick and P.E.I., and I believe they would have informed me if (other children were transferred).”
IWK spokesperson Heather Wise said it is part of the hospital’s mandate to admit children from throughout the Maritimes.
“The IWK provides highly-specialized care, and we serve Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I., so that’s why sometimes we have patients transferred here,” she said.
She would not say if any other children are currently being treated for H1N1 at the hospital.
