A VIRULENT flu strain has taken the lives of two men at a Barossa nursing home.

The Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing inspected the Barossa Village aged care facility in Nuriootpa yesterday to review handling of the outbreak.
Chief executive officer Phillip Schmaal said more than 20 residents and 20 staff showed signs of influenza last week, prompting them to alert the health authorities.

SA Health staff visited the home at the weekend and issued 127 doses of Tamiflu to residents and staff, although most were already vaccinated.

One man died on Saturday morning and another died on Monday morning. They were aged 82 and 94.

Mr Schmaal said it was a highly infectious strain that spread very quickly.

"We've been doing everything humanly possible to make things as comfortable as possible and we are working hand in hand with the state and federal departments, following all the normal protocols around infection control," Mr Schmaal said. "We've had very positive feedback from the local community." He said restrictions on access for visitors would hopefully ease near the end of the week.

The Commonwealth Health Department said they would investigate staffing levels and infection control procedures.

SA Health Communicable Disease Control Branch director Dr Ann Koehler said the flu season had struck SA late this year and it was unusual to have "clusters" of flu in aged care facilities.

"These were influenza A, that tends to be more serious," she said.

Nuriootpa resident Sally Pfeiffer, whose mother Shirley Maywald, 82, lives at the facility said she had "full confidence" in the staff and the actions taken. Mrs Maywald called on Saturday to advise her daughter not to visit because of the flu outbreak.

"I think (the staff) were very prompt in acting with this and mum feels quite confident with all that's happening; We all do," Mrs Pfeiffer said.

Rex Craker, 82, of Nuriootpa, visited his wife, Peg, 80, yesterday. "Peg wasn't concerned at all, she said they had everything under control," he said.

Source: The Advertiser - Tory Shepherd, Health Reporter, Doug Robertson