Summary
Cases of a vomiting bug currently sweeping Wales and England have doubled in a year, forcing hospitals across the nation to shut wards to new admissions and causing some surgery delays. As the Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed yesterday that cases of norovirus have now hit a high not seen since the 2002 epidemic - hitting up to 200,000 people a week according to some UK estimates - it emerged that many patients and staff in Welsh hospitals have been struck down with diarrhoea and vomiting (D and V). There was more bad news as experts warned that colds were expected to peak next week as the new school term gets into full swing.
A comparison of the number of cases of norovirus reported to the HPA from early September to early December, reveals a doubling between 2006 and 2007 for Wales and England - although they vastly underestimate the true figure because tens of thousands of cases probably go unreported.See the full content of this document
Extract
Hospitals Suffer As Sickness Bug Hits Thousands
In the autumn of 2000, just 288 cases were reported, rising to 1,845 in 2002 when a virulent strain was identified.
During the winter of 2006 there were 685 cases, but that doubled to 1,325 in 2007.The latest annual figures from Wales alone showed that the number of reported cases rose by 400% between 2000 and 2006.Many cases occur in hosp...See the full content of this document
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