Some 40 patients in five wards at the Cork University Hospital (CUH) are in isolation with suspected winter vomiting virus. The hospital will remain closed to new admissions and planned surgery until after the weekend.
Earlier in the week, the hospital authorities placed five patients and eight staff on one of the adult wards in isolation when they became ill with symptoms including diarrhoea and vomiting, suggesting they had contracted the virus, known as the Small Rounded Structured Virus (SRSV) or Norwalk-like Viruses (NLVs). As well as the increased isolation precautions, the CUH has asked 40 staff not to report for work until further notice.
Yesterday, the Mercy Hospital in Cork city also postponed elective admissions after two patients showed symptoms of the virus.
According to Dr Bartley Cryan, consultant medical microbiologist, the virus, which is highly infectious, causes short-lasting outbreaks of abdominal pain and nausea followed by diarrhoea and vomiting. It rarely caused severe problems but could be quite unpleasant and debilitating in small children or the elderly who were already sick, he added.
"We are appealing to people to stay away from the hospital as far as possible.
"Visitors are limited to direct next-of-kin of critical patients; while the radiotherapy and chemotherapy day units and the outpatients' department remain open as they are separate from patients already in hospital," Dr Cryan said.