Norovirus precautions spread to another unit at St. Paul’s

Staff members on another unit at St. Paul’s Hospital are on high alert as they try to contain norovirus.

"The patients (have been) put on what we call ‘contact precautions.’ Whenever somebody steps into that room, they have to wear appropriate personal protective equipment," said Dr. Oscar Larios, an infection control officer with Saskatoon Health Region.

That equipment extends beyond gloves, gowns and masks and includes splash guards to protect the face.

On Thursday, two medical patients on the unit located on the seventh floor of the hospital were identified as having norovirus. No staff members on that unit had contracted the virus as of Thursday. But four more staff members working in other parts of the hospital did come down with it.

Since Jan. 2 when the first patient at the hospital became sick with the virus, 20 patients and 22 staff members have been affected. Some have already recovered from the symptoms, which include stomach cramps and discomfort, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea and can last 12 to 96 hours. The illness is severe enough that its spread needs to be stopped, says Larios.

"These individuals in hospital are already quite sick and we’re trying to avoid them getting another illness on top of what they are already experiencing," he said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

While no patients at St. Paul’s Hospital have died from norovirus specifically, all deaths since the beginning of January are being reviewed in light of the outbreaks, says St. Paul’s Hospital president and CEO Jean Morrison.

"It is a hospital with a large number of patients . . . and those patients are very sick patients, elderly patients, a number of palliative patients," she said at the news conference.

"We are assessing those cases to ensure we know the cause and factors that contributed to death and we have no reason, at this time, to believe that norovirus is a contributor but we will continue to monitor."

Access to St. Paul’s continues to be restricted to staff members, physicians, volunteers and students, to people who have a scheduled appointment and those who require emergency treatment, and to visitors who’ve been approved because they are visiting a terminally or critically ill family member.

On the three medical units where the health region previously declared norovirus outbreaks, no visitors are being allowed and no new patients are being admitted. The most recent unit with the two patients who are sick with the virus has not been labelled as experiencing an outbreak because the number of cases hasn’t reach the threshold.

Larios and Morrison urge everyone, whether they are at home, at school, at work or out in the community, to frequently and thoroughly wash their hands because the virus, transmitted fecally-orally, can contaminate food, water and surfaces.

Anyone who becomes sick with the symptoms is asked to stay home, get rest and drink lots of fluids. Rather than going to the hospital emergency department for treatment, people are asked to call the provincial HealthLine at 1-877-800-0002.

Norovirus is commonly spread in winter and spring months in Saskatchewan, says a health region news release. But there was little activity throughout the province until about mid-December, says Dr. Saqib Shahab, the deputy medical health officer for Saskatchewan.

"As you know, at least one acute care hospital has got an outbreak and there (have been cases at) several long-term care facilities," he said, adding a few cases of the illness have been reported in day cares and schools.

Outbreaks have been scattered throughout the province, he said.