After contracting flesh-eating disease, patients question Nova Scotia Health’s response – CBC
Researcher says Nova Scotia Health messaging needs to stay ahead of rumour mill on social media
May 08, 2024
Two women in southwestern Nova Scotia are questioning the response by Public Health after they say invasive group A strep infections left them in hospital fighting flesh-eating disease.
The episode raises questions about public health messaging in the age of social media, according to one expert.
Kelly Doucet, who lives in Hebron, N.S., said she thought she had the flu when her ordeal began last month. But she said her mother encouraged her to go to Yarmouth Regional Hospital after hearing about a couple in the area who died as a result of invasive group A strep.
“I knew that it was in the province,” she said. “I wasn’t really aware of the symptoms, signs or severity of what it was.”
Doucet said she needed surgery to treat flesh-eating disease as a result of the Strep A infection. And while the Yarmouth hospital team was excellent, she said, Public Health’s response has been a disappointment.
“I got more information off of the internet than when [Public Health was] calling me in my hospital bed,” she said.
