This article is from page 23 of the 2009-03-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 23 JPG
THE winter vomiting bug has closed a third-level facility in the mid-west for almost a week.
Last week, a number of students presented themselves to the Med1i- cal Centre at Mary Immaculate Col- lege with gastric flu-like symptoms including diarrhoea and vomiting. The college immediately contacted the HSE who, following their inves- tigations, have confirmed seven in- dividual cases of norovirus (winter vomiting bug) amongst the students.
The college, in consultation with the HSE, moved to control the out- break last Wednesday, suspending all college activities in order to facilitate the intensive cleaning and sanitisa- tion of the campus to prevent a sec- ondary introduction of the virus.
The college expressed their grati- tude to the HSE for the “swift and professional manner in which they dealt with this matter and thanked them for their advice and _ assist- _N Nome
The college will re-open today but student activities, including lectures and tutorials, are postponed until 9am on Wednesday, March 18.
The HSE said that “preliminary results of their investigations sug-
gested that the outbreak of gastroen- teritis at Mary Immaculate College was caused by norovirus, the source of which has not been identified. Precautionary measures are being implemented by Mary Immaculate College to minimise the risk of fur- ther transmission.”
Norovirus is often known as ‘win- ter vomiting disease’. Outbreaks af- fecting hundreds of people have been reported. Cases occur in all seasons although it is true that there is an in- crease in winter.
The illness characteristically starts with the sudden onset of severe and dramatic vomiting. This can occur with such force that it is termed “pro- jectile”. The virus is so small that there are millions of them in parti- cles of vomit which can be widely dispersed in an area.
“Tt is vitally important to clean a very wide area when cleaning up after a person who has vomited,’ a spokes- woman for the HSE said. Some peo- ple also develop diarrhoea.”
In general, the symptoms usually last for about 24 to 36 hours after which the person feels washed out for a day or so. There are no long- term effects of norovirus infection and, even in the frail or elderly, eve- ryone makes a full recovery.