Sars suspect victim of contamination security measures

3.30pm

Geoffrey Vine, in Dunedin Hospital suspected of having Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, has been the victim of stringent safety measures put in place to prevent his illness spreading.

Gillian Vine told NZPA this morning that her husband had drunk from a polystyrene cup half-full of cleaning product that had been left on his bathroom shelf yesterday.

Hospital cleaners were not allowed to take their bottles and other equipment into his room where he is being kept in isolation and were taking in cleaning product in drinking containers, she said.

Mrs Vine said the cup her husband used was on a shelf with other cups with no markings to say what it contained.

Mr Vine had brushed his teeth and filled the cup with water and rinsed his mouth out. He immediately spat the cleaner solution out but said it had made his throat burn.

"He started to rinse his teeth and the next thing he was gagging and said 'what the hell was in that?"'

She said the cleaner had been in the room that morning.

"When I left at 8.15 last night, although he had not swallowed any, he was still complaining of a burning sensation at the back of his throat. So it must have been pretty potent whatever it was."

Mrs Vine said she was "horrified" about the mistake.

She could not understand why the cleaner would put cleaning product in an ordinary drinking cup without at least marking it.

"I was really quite upset about it.

"I mean putting cleaning things in a drinking cup? How dim can you be?"

Mrs Vine said the exertion of having a shower had left her 63-year-old husband breathless and the incident had not helped his fragile condition. She said a nurse had filed a report about the incident.

Overall she said Dunedin Hospital staff had been fantastic.

Mrs Vine said she thought her husband's condition had improved.

"Because he was starting to get a little bit grumpy and rather bored."

She said Mr Vine was able to walk, albeit unsteadily, and shower himself with help.

She understood there had been some concerns about his haemoglobin overnight but was unsure of details.

Blood samples were being sent to Auckland for testing today. Mrs Vine understood a Sars testing kit had been developed and was available there. She did not have further details.

Meanwhile, Mrs Vine is avoiding going out in public after medical officials asked her to be cautious.

"I may in fact be brewing it up and they don't want to risk me infecting half of Dunedin by developing a cough and hacking away in a supermarket queue, for example."

The duty co-ordinator at Dunedin Hospital declined to comment. She said she was unaware of the incident.

Concerns have been raised about airport and airline reaction to Mr Vine's illness despite international publicity about Sars.

Mrs Vine told NZPA that her husband, en route to Auckland from Bali, had stopped at Brisbane Airport in Australia where he said he was unwell.

Brisbane Airport's spokeswoman did not return calls this morning but an official said an immigration official would be called if Sars was suspected.

However, Mrs Vine said her husband was checked by two medics who did not take his temperature and who let him go without taking further action.

He was not asked where he had been before arriving in Brisbane.

He boarded his Garuda International flight and attendants on the plane took no action either and failed to alert Auckland airport to his obvious poor condition.

Dunedin Hospital respiratory consultant Wendy McRae, who has been treating Mr Vine, yesterday said it was of concern.

"Part of our routine questioning was how it was able to happen that he could come so far, given the concern worldwide and the precautions that should have been taken."

- NZPA