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Southland Hospital has locked down its rehabilitation unit after an outbreak of an unknown gastro virus. Fourteen patients in the hospital's Assessment, Treatment and Rehabilitation Unit fell ill with vomiting and diarrhoea this week. Southland District Health Board chief operating officer Lexie O'Shea said tests were being carried out to determine if the illness was the highly infectious norovirus and staff were taking infection control measures. Staff were alerted on Monday after several patients fell ill and the situation was monitored. The unit was closed on Tuesday after more patients became ill, Mrs O'Shea said. The virus had not affected any other part of the hospital, she said. The unit would remain closed to the public "until we feel we are past the worst of the virus", she said. She urged all visitors who had been ill with vomiting or diarrhoea or who had been in contact with someone with those symptoms, to stay away from the hospital until 48 hours after symptoms stopped. It was also essential people remembered the importance of good hand hygiene to prevent the virus spreading further, she said. Mrs O'Shea said this was the first time part of the hospital had been closed this year. The children's ward was closed in December 2007 after an outbreak of the antibiotic resistant bug methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Southland Hospital has locked down its rehabilitation unit after an outbreak of an unknown gastro virus. Fourteen patients in the hospital's Assessment, Treatment and Rehabilitation Unit fell ill with vomiting and diarrhoea this week. Southland District Health Board chief operating officer Lexie O'Shea said tests were being carried out to determine if the illness was the highly infectious norovirus and staff were taking infection control measures. Staff were alerted on Monday after several patients fell ill and the situation was monitored. The unit was closed on Tuesday after more patients became ill, Mrs O'Shea said. The virus had not affected any other part of the hospital, she said. The unit would remain closed to the public "until we feel we are past the worst of the virus", she said. She urged all visitors who had been ill with vomiting or diarrhoea or who had been in contact with someone with those symptoms, to stay away from the hospital until 48 hours after symptoms stopped. It was also essential people remembered the importance of good hand hygiene to prevent the virus spreading further, she said. Mrs O'Shea said this was the first time part of the hospital had been closed this year. The children's ward was closed in December 2007 after an outbreak of the antibiotic resistant bug methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).