Norovirus case at Oregon State Hospital quarantines two units

Jonathan Bach
Statesman Journal
The Oregon State Hospital campus in Salem.

The Oregon State Hospital has quarantined two units after multiple patients suffered stomach illnesses and at least one has a confirmed case of norovirus, state health officials said.

An email sent to hospital staff Friday morning said "a number of patients" were experiencing gastrointestinal illness on Bird 1, a first-floor unit at the hospital. 

Norovirus was confirmed in a patient on the second floor, according to the email sent by Chief of Medicine Dr. Kristi Hennan.

Symptoms of the virus include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and stomach pain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's extremely contagious and can be transmitted by coming in contact with someone who's infected, eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water.

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"Because GI bacteria/viruses can be very contagious this unit has been closed and placed on formal control measures for the duration of the illness," Hennan wrote in the email, which an Oregon Health Authority spokeswoman provided to the Statesman Journal.

"This means that patients will not be leaving the unit except for emergency reasons," Hennan wrote. "Meals will be eaten on the unit, treatment mall and other activities will be placed on hold or provided on unit until control measures are lifted."

Patients who aren't symptomatic could be allowed to go into an interior yard "for fresh air" so long as staff members wipe surfaces and door knobs the patient may have touched, according to the email.

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"Staff and patients should be reminded to wash your hands vigorously and often," Hennan wrote. "Do not depend on hand sanitizer to disinfect your hands as hand sanitizer is not effective against all GI illnesses."

"It can’t be stressed enough how contagious these illnesses can be," she wrote. "For all staff, if you are sick, please DO NOT come to work.  It only takes a few viral particles to pass the illness on to others." 

Email jbach@statesmanjournal.com, call (503) 399-6714 or follow on Twitter @jonathanmbach.

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