Budleigh Salterton hit by Norovirus bug
THE highly-infectious Norovirus has hit Budleigh Salterton Hospital just two months after the wards were deep cleaned.
THE highly-infectious Norovirus has hit Budleigh Salterton Hospital just two months after the wards were deep cleaned.
Devon PCT said the bug had come into the wards through visitor contact and urged people to stay away until the hospital was given the all-clear.
Hospital wards at Budleigh will undergo further specialist cleaning once the virus, which causes sickness and diarrhoea, has ceased.
A Devon PCT spokesman said: "Norovirus is brought into the hospital from the community and has nothing to do with the deep clean that recently took place.
"The wards will be re-cleaned 72-hours after the last patient is symptom-free."
Out of NHS Devon's 21 community hospitals, Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Okehampton and Tiverton all have confirmed cases of Norovirus.
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In a bid to prevent the spread of the virus Jane Barr, NHS Devon's lead nurse for infection control and prevention, is appealing to visitors to help keep the community hospitals bug-free.
She said: "We are working very hard to identify and contain any cases of Norovirus in our hospitals.
"If we have any confirmed cases in our hospitals we will close bays or wards and restrict visiting.
