Last updated at 11:28, Thursday, 22 November 2012

JENKIN and Honister wards at the West Cumberland Hospital are closed to new admissions due to confirmed cases of the winter vomiting bug norovirus.

And health chiefs are asking people to think twice before they visit patients.

Norovirus, the most common cause of vomiting and diarrhoea, can be particularly dangerous for people with other conditions. Known as the winter vomiting bug, it affects between 600,000 and one million people in the UK every year.

It is normally a short-lived, self-limiting infection from which people will usually recover within 12 to 60 hours. But it is highly contagious unless great care is taken to contain it, so hospital staff are asking anyone who feels unwell or who has shown symptoms of diarrhoea and/or vomiting within the past 48 hours not to visit.

The North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust’s advice to people visiting hospital includes:

• not visiting friends or relatives if you feel unwell;
• if you develop diarrhoea or vomiting, stay away from hospital until you have been free of symptoms for at least 48 hours;
• wash hands regularly with soap and water;
• do not sit on beds.

First published at 16:28, Thursday, 15 November 2012
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk