# Nursing a Homes and COVID-19 Patients



## 911 (May 12, 2020)

It appears that a lot of Veterans are dying from the virus while in nursing homes. What’s up with that?


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## MarciKS (May 12, 2020)

Nursing homes are breeding grounds for viruses. The immune systems of older folks can't fight that off as easy. So it spreads like wildfire. The common flu usually gets bad in those places every year. Vets likely have a great deal of health issues that this virus loves.


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## old medic (May 13, 2020)

MarciKS said:


> Nursing homes are breeding grounds for viruses. The immune systems of older folks can't fight that off as easy. So it spreads like wildfire. The common flu usually gets bad in those places every year. Vets likely have a great deal of health issues that this virus loves.


And unfortunately this is the sad truth..... a few years ago the Flu devastated our local retirement centers and nursing homes...
We were losing 2-3 people a week over a couple months...


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## Lewkat (May 13, 2020)

I live in a Senior Living/Assisted Living Community.  It is a building with many apartments and residents vary from independent living to required assists.  Also many of these residents are borderline or into dementia, but not a behavior problem.  There is a separate unit for those with full blown Alzheimer's disease.  I am independent, so my needs are few.  When I moved here years ago, I was quite ill, just getting over serious illness.  My son felt I would be safer here as it is classified as a health facility and close to hospitals, doctors, labs, etc.  Now, NJ does place this in a the nursing home category.  We were ordered under lock down on March 6th which meant no residents could leave the premises nor receive visitors.  This progressed to total isolation whereby we can not even come out of our apartments for any reason.  But, staff members come and go at will.  Thus, some, of course, were afflicted with the Virus.  Consequently, a few of us were then afflicted with it, I being one of course. No one here died as a result, thankfully, but several in other communities like ours did not fare as well.


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## MarciKS (May 13, 2020)

old medic said:


> And unfortunately this is the sad truth..... a few years ago the Flu devastated our local retirement centers and nursing homes...
> We were losing 2-3 people a week over a couple months...



Yeah and then when they lose too many at once the state starts investigating to make sure they're dying because of that and not other reasons.


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## Butterfly (May 13, 2020)

When I had my hips replaced in 2013, my orthopedic surgeon said that even though many orthos had their patients go to a nursing home or rehab center for a few days, he absolutely did NOT want any of his patients doing that because of the high infection rate in those who did.  He told his patients to go home and STAY there for at least a couple of weeks post surgery.


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## MarciKS (May 13, 2020)

@Butterfly That and anymore hand hygiene is really going by the wayside in a lot of places. It's making a big difference.


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## Rosemarie (May 14, 2020)

old medic said:


> And unfortunately this is the sad truth..... a few years ago the Flu devastated our local retirement centers and nursing homes...
> We were losing 2-3 people a week over a couple months...


I wish more people would accept this, instead of looking for someone to blame.


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## MarciKS (May 14, 2020)

As we age our immune systems weaken significantly so we are at even more risk than ever. Couple that with the inactivity that comes with nursing home life and there you are...a delightful host for germs and viruses.


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## Liberty (May 15, 2020)

Lewkat said:


> I live in a Senior Living/Assisted Living Community.  It is a building with many apartments and residents vary from independent living to required assists.  Also many of these residents are borderline or into dementia, but not a behavior problem.  There is a separate unit for those with full blown Alzheimer's disease.  I am independent, so my needs are few.  When I moved here years ago, I was quite ill, just getting over serious illness.  My son felt I would be safer here as it is classified as a health facility and close to hospitals, doctors, labs, etc.  Now, NJ does place this in a the nursing home category.  We were ordered under lock down on March 6th which meant no residents could leave the premises nor receive visitors.  This progressed to total isolation whereby we can not even come out of our apartments for any reason.  But, staff members come and go at will.  Thus, some, of course, were afflicted with the Virus.  Consequently, a few of us were then afflicted with it, I being one of course. No one here died as a result, thankfully, but several in other communities like ours did not fare as well.


Did you have a bad time of it with the virus?  You are ok now, right?  Hope you are safe and well today!


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## Lewkat (May 16, 2020)

Liberty said:


> Did you have a bad time of it with the virus?  You are ok now, right?  Hope you are safe and well today!


I was fortunate insofar as I had what was considered a mild case which did not require medication.  However for 2 days, my fever  shot up to 102 and that was when I began having difficulty breathing.  Got through it with determination, I guess.  But, I know some who wound up on ventilators and I.V.s and are still having mild problems with oxygen levels even though they survived.  This is one tough virus, I must say.


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