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Interesting Story- Ice Fishing & Covid |
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Tabitha111
Adviser Group Joined: January 11 2020 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 11640 |
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Posted: February 16 2021 at 9:04am |
Interesting story from Wisconsin - social distancing wasn't practiced and masks weren't used, especially when eating or drinking... need I say more... USA (Wisconsin): ice fishing Date: Mon 15 Feb 2021 From: Blaise Vitale <bvitale@burnettmedicalcenter.com> [edited] Ice fishing is a popular pastime in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. Makeshift villages show up on area lakes every winter and remain there most of the winter. This may be the 1st documented outbreak of COVID-19 associated with ice fishing. During my regular clinic on Friday [29 Jan 2021], I was assigned to do COVID-19 testing. Our small clinic at a Critical Access Hospital allows asymptomatic people to be tested by laboratory personnel but symptomatic people are supposed to be seen by a provider. The 1st 2 patients were a couple in their 30's who requested testing as they had found out on [28 Jan 2021] that someone with whom they had been ice fishing during a family outing on [23 Jan 2021] with 3 ice houses on a lake in northern Polk County, Wisconsin, had tested positive. Both of the members had started to develop mild upper respiratory symptoms on [27 Jan 2021]. Rapid antigen testing (Quidel) was positive for both patients. The family then brought multiple other members to our clinic over the course of the day and 9/9 tests were positive. The patients ranged in age from 4 to 67. No one reported sharing beverages but several meals were consumed in the ice houses. In total, 11 people were affected (including the presumed index case who was tested early in the week with a PCR test at another clinic). 3 patients were pediatric (2 of whom were asymptomatic). Subsequently, all 9 positive rapid antigen tests were confirmed positive by a send-out PCR test. When I saw the 67-year-old, I alerted her to the availability of administering monoclonal antibodies to mitigate the risk for severe disease. Her 69-year-old husband had tested positive at a drive through site in Polk County, WI on [28 Jan 2021] but was not notified about the availability of treatment. He then came into the office and was evaluated as well. He did have a symptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy but was otherwise healthy. After receiving an exam, being provided with the appropriate educational material, and a discussion of risks and benefits, the 67- and 69-year-old received infusions of bamlanivimab on the same day. The 69-year-old did report some low grade fevers overnight as well as chest pain such that he presented to our Emergency Department the following day. Because of an abnormal EKG and a mildly elevated troponin, he was transferred to the Twin Cities for evaluation but was discharged after an overnight period of observation without any intervention. The 67-year-old had complete resolution of her symptoms within 2 days. While preparing this report, our clinic subsequently found a 2nd outbreak associated with ice fishing on a Burnett County lake. These may be the 1st reported outbreaks of COVID-19 associated with ice fishing. As demonstrated by this report, while ice fishing is usually thought of as a safe outdoor activity, fishing within the more comfortable ice houses currently on the market does represent a potential unrecognized hazard. Additional information On follow-up, 40 people participated in 7 different ice houses. Most of these were very nice RV [recreational vehicle) like structures with heaters and several of them had bathrooms. About half of the people had been there the night prior. There was food in most of the houses but individual meals were largely served within family groups. There were a total of 14 new positive cases traced back to this event. 5 people at the event had already been infected and recovered from COVID-19. One person had already been vaccinated. The older couple described were there only for about 3-4 hours. The index case worked at a dental office and was thought to have been infected at work. When she became mildly symptomatic, she was tested, but because she didn't think she had it, she did not quarantine. There were no additional medical complications and everyone has completely recovered. I was told that everyone visited multiple houses and socialized throughout the day. The 10 patients I saw were associated with 3 ice houses and the index case apparently visited all 3. I would also doubt that windows were opened. In my experience, the only reason that would occur while ice fishing is if the house overheated. Windows are usually built into houses for getting in natural light rather than for increasing ventilation. With multiple people moving around (including multiple children) I suspect the doors opened often enough that windows were not necessary to prevent the houses from overheating (and some of these fancy RV-like ice houses can keep the temperature regulated at a certain height. I do know that masks were not worn as they thought this was a safe "outdoor" activity. The only other information was that 2 additional children did have mild flu-like symptoms around the time of this outbreak but their parents elected to not get them tested. -- Blaise Vitale, MD <bvitale@burnettmedicalcenter.com> ................................................................................................................... |
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