Seven elderly residents from a nursing home in Victoria's north-east have died during a flu outbreak, the state's health authorities say. The deaths occurred at St John's Retirement Village in Wangaratta, which is run by the Anglican Church.
The Department of Health and Human Services said the retirement village had 146 residents and 200 staff, with 123 people affected by flu during an outbreak over the past few weeks.
The seven residents who died were aged between 70 and 94, and had other conditions that made them particularly susceptible.
The department said it had worked with the facility to manage the outbreak and ensure strict infection control measures.
It said the outbreak was now subsiding.
Wangaratta Bishop John Parkes said the outbreak has been an "extraordinary and unusual event" unlike any they had ever experienced before.
"It has been a very difficult time," he said.
"Of course the tragedy is we've lost seven residents who are part of the St John's family and that is dreadful for them, for their families and for the staff and the organisation."
"But we mourn the loss of any resident and seven [dead] in one influenza epidemic is a tragedy for their families and for us."
Thirteen people are still sick at the home, which will be in lock-down for at least another week as long as no-one else develops flu.
Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt said as soon as the outbreak is over, the facility will be audited.
"My thoughts are with the families of those affected," he said.
"The Australian Aged Care Quality Agency will conduct an urgent review audit of the Wangaratta retirement and nursing home facility."
Victoria's acting chief health officer Dr Brett Sutton said the flu is particularly dangerous for frail people in aged care facilities.
"The deaths have occurred mostly in the last week, they were all in elderly people in their 70s [and] into their 90s, all with pre-existing conditions so they were vulnerable to significant illness," he said.
"It's a reminder that flu is really deadly."
There have been twice as many outbreaks of the flu this year than there were in 2016, with 208 respiratory outbreaks in aged care homes this year compared with 104 for the same period last year.
The health department said there had been more than 11,300 confirmed cases in Victoria in 2017, with many more notifications still expected.
"We've had aged care facilities hit particularly hard this year with a record number of outbreaks in those settings and we've had elderly people in general affected more than most years," Dr Sutton said.
"They [the elderly] are vaccinated in aged care facilities largely, including this one, but the vaccine doesn't work as well in the very elderly so it's incumbent upon those who are visiting and the staff in those facilities to try and be immunised and to exclude themselves from work if they're unwell."
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