MHSC
Senior Moderator
Virus outbreak: Worst in 10-20 years
County and nation weather highly contagious stomach bug.
http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/29399
By Cindy Stauffer
Lancaster New Era
Published: Jan 11, 2007 2:31 PM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Your sister spent Christmas Day hugging the toilet. Your nephew had a very unpleasant trip home from the Penn State bowl game.
Heaven forbid, but you also may have experienced the vomiting, diarrhea and other nasty symptoms of a gastrointestinal bug outbreak that some are saying is the worst here in 10 to 20 years.
<changed>The bug has been spreading across the state and nation for a number of weeks. Canada and Europe also have had outbreaks.
<changed>Here, the stomach ailment has hit schools and nursing homes, closing floors in at least two facilities. A hospital in a neighboring county, Lebanon?s Good Samaritan, also recently closed a floor to keep the virus from spreading.
<changed>Dr. Robert Baird treated many patients for the bug over the past few weeks at Manor Family Health Center in Millersville. Then he got it himself.
<changed>?I just laid on the couch all day,? he said. ?I couldn?t move.?
<changed>Some believe the outbreak could be fueled by a norovirus, a common and stubborn cause of stomach ailments.
<changed>Whatever the culprit, the bug has wiped out hundreds here.
<changed>The virus started hitting back in November and peaked around the holidays, when gatherings helped to accelerate its spread.
<changed>Many folks dragged themselves, clutching their stomachs, into the emergency department at Lancaster General Hospital.
<changed>?Having done this for over 20 years, this is the worst I?ve seen in terms of consistent symptoms,? said emergency room physician Dr. Don Berkow.
<changed>The proof was written on the emergency department?s board, which lists patients and their symptoms.
<changed>?It was one abdominal pain after the next,? Berkow said, estimating that as many as a quarter of his patients had the bug on a given shift during the peak.
<changed>Doctors gave intravenous fluids to rehydrate some patients but admitted few to the hospital.
<changed>Generally, the bug, which also can cause headaches and low-grade fevers, passes in 24 to 48 hours.
<changed>Dr. Bill Longenecker said patients with the bug have filled examining rooms at Crossroads Family Practice in Brownstown.
<changed>?I would say it?s as bad as I?ve seen in the last 10 years,? he said.
<changed>One of the factors feeding the spread is that the virus is very contagious.
<changed>?Our infection control nurse stresses the importance of handwashing,? said Joanne Eshelman of Ephrata Community Hospital, which has seen up to seven patients a day with the bug in its emergency department. ?Good handwashing is our best defense against viral illness.?
<changed>That?s one reason why the ailment has spread so quickly among children, who often aren?t the most hygienic creatures on the planet.
<changed>Mary Kay Transue, nurse manager at Roseville Pediatrics in Manheim Township, said the virus gets passed around easily in the close quarters of classrooms, where kids share computer keyboards, pencils and other items.
<changed>The recent mild winter weather also may have exacerbated its spread, she said, as people are out and about more, shopping, visiting and congregating.
<changed>Even the staff at Roseville has been laid low this year.
<changed>?I?ve never had nurses out like this, bang, bang, bang,? Transue said. ?One would come back and the next would go out. It?s just unbelievable.?
<changed>And Transue cautioned that the bug might hang around for a while longer.
<changed>?Right now, we are seeing a lull because the kids were on vacation (from school),? she said. ?We may see an uprise because of being back in school.?
<changed>Hempfield School District sent about a half-dozen students home Monday with the bug. However, that isn?t an outrageous amount, said school nurse Susan Horan, who hopes that the worst has passed.
<changed>Masonic Village and Brethren Village officials share that hope.
<changed>Both closed floors of their nursing homes ? Masonic?s was closed around the holidays, Brethren?s was closed from last week until early this week ? when the virus hit.
<changed>?The community has definitely had it,? said Joyce Heisey, assistant director of nursing for Masonic Village. ?Now we?re on the down side.?
<changed>Richard McGarvey, spokesman for the state health department, said a number of nursing homes across the state have had outbreaks.
<changed>?What we?re hearing is there?s a lot of cases out there in the general public,? he said.
<changed>Across the nation, the bug has hit victims as varied as San Antonio Spurs basketball players, San Quentin State Prison inmates, Carnival cruise ship passengers and Montana nursing home patients.
<changed>Fortunately, it causes few deaths and comes and goes quickly.
<changed>But its misery is memorable, McGarvey said.
<changed>?If you?re sick with it,? he said, ?you think it?s more than a nuisance.?
<changed>(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
</changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed></changed>
CONTACT US: cstauffer@LNPnews.com or 481-6024
