Virus 'stretching hospital staff'

Visitors to Bath's Royal United Hospital (RUH) are being asked to stay away after an outbreak of norovirus.

The hospital said the virus, which is affecting staff and patients, is highly infectious and putting extra strain on the RUH's resources.

It is particularly asking people with symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting (D&V) within the previous 48 hours not to enter hospital premises.

People with chest infections are also being asked to refrain from visiting.

An RUH spokesman said: "We are incredibly busy at the moment and illnesses such as D&V and chest infections are affecting staff as well as patients.

'Projectile vomiting'

"We are also seeing many more people than usual in our emergency department therefore we need to do all we can to ensure infections such as norovirus are not spread and we do not put our patients at risk.

"We would ask that visitors listen to our concerns and help themselves as well as their family and friends who may be patients and please stay away unless they consider their visit to be essential."

Norovirus is easily transmitted from one person to another by contact with an infected person or through contaminated food or drink or touching contaminated surfaces or objects.

It is able to survive in the environment for many days and outbreaks tend to affect more than 50% of susceptible people.

Around 12 to 48 hours after becoming infected, the virus causes sudden onset of nausea followed by projectile vomiting and watery diarrhoea.