Princess Royal Hospital stay away warning reduces bug cases

Hospital chiefs this week admitted a 'high number' of cases had been detected on wards at the Princess Royal Hospital, prompting them to issue a warning to visitors to stay away from certain wards.

However, they said that thanks to the public's response to their appeal the number of cases of norovirus at the PRH had fallen.

A spokesman for the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said: "At this time, however, we are still advising people not to visit wards 4, 10, 15, and 16 unless it is important for them to do so, in which case they should contact the ward first to discuss this.

"This will help to prevent new infections being brought into hospital.

"We are also advising patients who have appointments at the Princess Royal Hospital to attend them as planned.

"We are only advising people not to attend if they have had symptoms within the past 48 hours, in which case they should contact the hospital to rearrange their appointment."

Bosses at West Midlands Ambulance Service, which serves Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, are urging the public to make sure they play their part in stopping the spread of norovirus.

The plea comes as the Health Protection Agency reported that the current outbreaks are significantly worse than last year.

So far there have been more than 3,000 confirmed cases, but laboratory tests represent only a small proportion of the actual amount of norovirus activity in the community.

The HPA estimates that for every confirmed case there are around 288 unreported cases.

Noroviruses are one of the common causes of stomach bugs.

It is easily transmitted from one person to another through contact with an infected person, by consuming contaminated food or water or by contact with contaminated surfaces or objects.

The most common symptoms are nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.