Hospital ward closed due to Norovirus  

One ward has been closed at Scunthorpe General Hospital due to Norovirus and two other wards have been affected with bays closed.

Dr Peter Cowling, Trust consultant microbiologist, said: “Ward 24 is currently closed to admissions due to an outbreak of Norovirus.

“Patients from the ward will not be discharged to nursing or residential homes while they remain an infection risk and we have closed the ward to new admissions.

“The infection prevention and control team is reviewing the situation daily and regular and frequent disinfection is being carried out on the ward to contain the outbreak.

“This type of illness does come into the hospital from time to time, as in other hospitals across the country, and that is why we have a robust infection control policy in place to deal with such eventualities.

“This illness lasts about 24 hours and, although unpleasant, very rarely causes serious medical problems.”

Visitors who have been suffering from diarrhoea or vomiting are urged not to visit the hospital until they have been symptom free for 48 hours.

Staff are being advised not to attend work if they have symptoms and to stay off for 48 hours after the symptoms have stopped, as they will be infectious to others during this period.

There’s no specific cure for the illness, which is usually mild and shouldn’t last more than a couple of days.