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December 05, 2006 Hospital Visiting Restrictions Continue Judith Rau, Infection Control Coordinator announced today that Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation continues preventive measures in the wake of cases of a gastro-intestinal Norwalk virus being reported at the Saint John Regional Hospital. “As a prevention initiative we continue to restrict visitors to immediate family members only,” she said. “This virus is extremely contagious and we take this step in an effort to protect our patients and staff.” Nursing Units 4B South, 5B South and 5C South remain closed to admissions and visitors. “We hope the public will respect our request for the benefit of all concerned,” Rau continued. The hospital has had cases of Norwalk confirmed. “We no longer test each patient,” Rau explained. “Once the virus is confirmed to be in the building, we diagnose from patient symptoms. Since this outbreak began last week we have had 70 staff and 44 patients affected.” Rau said these infection control measures will remain in effect until risk to patients and staff is low. “The best preventive measure is to use good hygiene, particularly proper hand washing,” she said. The public is invited to go to the following website for a demonstration on hand washing http://www.ahsc.health.nb.ca/cleanhandsahsc/cleanhandsworkingahsc.html
Contact: Copyright © 2006 Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation. All rights reserved. |
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