Still spreading
Norovirus Spreads To Other San Mateo Facilities
POSTED: 12:08 pm PST December 12, 2006
UPDATED: 7:52 am PST December 13, 2006
REDWOOD CITY -- San Mateo County health department officials announced Tuesday that two more residential care facilities in the county have reported residents ill with norovirus, bringing the total number of patients or residents living under quarantine conditions to 576.
County health officials reported at a news conference in San Mateo that the outbreak of norovirus reported Dec. 5 at Bonnie Brae Terrace in Belmont has significantly decreased due to the county-ordered quarantine put in place on Friday.
Spokeswoman Beverly Thames said that 164 residents remain in quarantine at Bonnie Brae Terrace, but of the 85 residents who were ill with the virus, 66 have recovered as of today. Thames said the number of reported norovirus cases had steadily decreased from a peak of 16 on Thursday, to one new case on Sunday and one new case on Monday.
However, Deputy Health Officer Dr. Alvaro Garza reported today that another 21 people at two separate facilities in the county have shown symptoms of the highly contagious virus, and as a result, the combined 412 residents of the two facilities must live under quarantined conditions.
The names and locations of the assisted living facility and the skilled nursing facility are not being disclosed by county health officials, but they are within the county. The county was informed on Monday of the new cases, which have not been confirmed by lab tests.
According to Garza, officials at the care facilities were following the requested county quarantine procedures, including closing communal dining rooms, meeting places and canceling all social activities.
Patients and residents alike were being asked to avoid leaving their rooms and visitors are discouraged from coming into contact with residents.
"We get their frustration . . . we ask for their cooperation, we've gotten calls praising us for being aggressive," said Garza.
According Garza, the assisted living facility houses 112 residents and the skilled nursing facility houses 300 residents.
To top things off, 13 staff at the county hospital were asked to stay at home until they stop showing signs of norovirus. Twelve patients within Unit 1A, the medical center's long-term care unit, also showed symptoms. Health officials said that as of Monday, no more people in within Unit 1A were reporting symptoms.
Health officials say norovirus, which lives in stool or vomit and can be easily transmitted - including by touching a surface contaminated by an infected person, or by sharing food, drink or utensils - is very common.
Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, muscle cramps and a low-grade fever. According to Garza, most cases of norovirus are seen in the cold-weather months between October and April, when people tend to congregate indoors.
In San Mateo County this year from January to April there were a reported 320 cases of norovirus. In 2005, 166 cases were reported and in 2004 the county saw a reported 123 cases.
The San Mateo County Health Department has assisted Bonnie Brae Terrace in its efforts to fight norovirus by sending 18 county staff members, including nurses, social workers and service workers who are helping give medications, deliver meals and keep the living areas clean.
"Bonnie Brae is different, it's set up like an apartment complex. But they have frail, elderly people with chronic conditions who live there, so they're not able to care for themselves when they all got sick. That's why the health department stepped in," said Thames.
Norovirus Spreads To Other San Mateo Facilities
POSTED: 12:08 pm PST December 12, 2006
UPDATED: 7:52 am PST December 13, 2006
REDWOOD CITY -- San Mateo County health department officials announced Tuesday that two more residential care facilities in the county have reported residents ill with norovirus, bringing the total number of patients or residents living under quarantine conditions to 576.
County health officials reported at a news conference in San Mateo that the outbreak of norovirus reported Dec. 5 at Bonnie Brae Terrace in Belmont has significantly decreased due to the county-ordered quarantine put in place on Friday.
Spokeswoman Beverly Thames said that 164 residents remain in quarantine at Bonnie Brae Terrace, but of the 85 residents who were ill with the virus, 66 have recovered as of today. Thames said the number of reported norovirus cases had steadily decreased from a peak of 16 on Thursday, to one new case on Sunday and one new case on Monday.
However, Deputy Health Officer Dr. Alvaro Garza reported today that another 21 people at two separate facilities in the county have shown symptoms of the highly contagious virus, and as a result, the combined 412 residents of the two facilities must live under quarantined conditions.
The names and locations of the assisted living facility and the skilled nursing facility are not being disclosed by county health officials, but they are within the county. The county was informed on Monday of the new cases, which have not been confirmed by lab tests.
According to Garza, officials at the care facilities were following the requested county quarantine procedures, including closing communal dining rooms, meeting places and canceling all social activities.
Patients and residents alike were being asked to avoid leaving their rooms and visitors are discouraged from coming into contact with residents.
"We get their frustration . . . we ask for their cooperation, we've gotten calls praising us for being aggressive," said Garza.
According Garza, the assisted living facility houses 112 residents and the skilled nursing facility houses 300 residents.
To top things off, 13 staff at the county hospital were asked to stay at home until they stop showing signs of norovirus. Twelve patients within Unit 1A, the medical center's long-term care unit, also showed symptoms. Health officials said that as of Monday, no more people in within Unit 1A were reporting symptoms.
Health officials say norovirus, which lives in stool or vomit and can be easily transmitted - including by touching a surface contaminated by an infected person, or by sharing food, drink or utensils - is very common.
Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, muscle cramps and a low-grade fever. According to Garza, most cases of norovirus are seen in the cold-weather months between October and April, when people tend to congregate indoors.
In San Mateo County this year from January to April there were a reported 320 cases of norovirus. In 2005, 166 cases were reported and in 2004 the county saw a reported 123 cases.
The San Mateo County Health Department has assisted Bonnie Brae Terrace in its efforts to fight norovirus by sending 18 county staff members, including nurses, social workers and service workers who are helping give medications, deliver meals and keep the living areas clean.
"Bonnie Brae is different, it's set up like an apartment complex. But they have frail, elderly people with chronic conditions who live there, so they're not able to care for themselves when they all got sick. That's why the health department stepped in," said Thames.