CASES of the highly virulent winter vomiting bug which is sweeping the country rose by nearly 20-per cent in Scotland last year, the Sunday Herald can reveal.
Statistics obtained from Health Protection Scotland (HPS) show that 2756 reports of the disease were recorded in 2007, compared to 2324 the previous year. Figures for the first week of this year have not yet been collated.
An outbreak of the bug which is known as norovirus and causes sickness and diarrhoea forced at least 98 wards in 44 hospitals across the UK last week to close to new patients, with the northwest and south-west of England worst hit. North of the border more than 20 wards mainly in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area have been affected in the past fortnight.
The figures for Scotland continue an upward trend for the bug, which has been on the increase since 2002. The statistics reflect cases confirmed by NHS laboratories there are likely to be hundreds more people who are affected but do not seek medical attention.
Last month experts at HPS warned that a more aggressive strain may be in circulation, because of a pattern of an unusually high number of NHS staff affected by the illness and symptoms of the bug appearing to last longer.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which has had to temporarily close 15 wards since Christmas Eve, said rates were higher than expected at this time of year. A total of 12 wards at six hospital sites are closed to admissions, including five at the Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow which has been worst hit.
Tom Walsh, infection control manager, said: “We will continue to monitor this situation closely and are doing all that we can to further prevent the spread of this infection.” A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said patients and staff in several wards were showing symptoms of norovirus, resulting in some wards having to be closed for “short periods of time”.
But she added: “I don’t think we have seen a massive increase compared to what we normally have.” Other areas which have been affected by ward closures include NHS Ayrshire and Arran, where two wards at Ayr Hospital and one at Biggart Hospital are closed to new admissions. Dr Bob Masterton, executive medical director, said: “The winter months are traditionally the peak season for cases of vomiting and diarrhoea throughout communities and this year is no different.” In Forth Valley, two wards at Stirling Royal Infirmary have been closed to new admissions and one ward at Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary has just reopened.
A spokesman for NHS Dumfries and Galloway said one psychiatric ward at the Crichton Royal Hospital in Dumfries had been affected, but it was expected to reopen tomorrow. NHS Fife said that two wards at Cameron Hospital, Leven, had been closed but were now open. The NHS 24 helpline also reported a number of calls about winter vomiting which usually lasts 24 to 48 hours over the festive period.
It has been estimated that more than 100,000 people a week are catching norovirus. According to one survey, the virus has cost UK business more than GBP80 million because of staff illness, with the number of people calling in sick increasing by nearly 40-per cent.
People visiting hospitals in the UK are being told to wash their hands with soap and water to halt the outbreak. NHS bosses urged anyone who has been ill not to visit hospitals until they have been free from symptoms for at least two days.
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