More Sickened By Outbreak At Springfield Retirement Home

SPRINGFIELD, VA — More people have been sickened by a respiratory outbreak at a Springfield retirement community. Officials are trying to identify the cause of the respiratory symptoms that have led to two deaths.

The Fairfax County Health Department announced the outbreak at Greenspring Retirement Community last week. As of Monday, 60 of the community's 263 residents were sickened by the respiratory illness over a two-week span. This includes 23 who have been hospitalized. Symptoms have ranged from a cough to pneumonia.

Those numbers are up from the original report of 54 sickened residents, which included 18 hospitalized residents. The number of deaths remains at two.

"The individuals who died had complex health conditions," said the health department in a statement. "The Health Department does not know the full medical history and the extent to which the respiratory illness contributed to the deaths."

A cause for the respiratory illness has not yet been identified. Officials with the Virginia Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are testing for viruses and bacteria that could be causing the respiratory outbreak.

The health department says these types of outbreaks can happen a few times a year, but it's unusual for them to occur in summer rather than winter or flu season.

The retirement community has taken measures to reduce the risk of infection. This includes closing the facility to new admissions, cancelling group activities, keeping sick residents in their rooms and increasing cleaning.