Suspected and laboratory-confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals: outbreaks occurring in weeks 36 to 39, 2014
Updated 9 January 2015
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The hospital norovirus outbreak reporting scheme (HNORS) recorded 18 outbreaks occurring between weeks 36 and 39, 2014, 16 (89%) of which led to ward/bay closures or restriction to admissions. Twelve outbreaks (65%) were recorded as laboratory confirmed due to norovirus. From week 1 (January 2014) to week 39 (week beginning 22 September 2014) 443 outbreaks have been reported. Ninety-four per cent (414) of reported outbreaks resulted in ward/bay closures or restrictions to admissions and 65% (288) were laboratory confirmed as due to norovirus.
Suspected and laboratory-confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals, with regional breakdown: outbreaks occurring in weeks 36 to 359of 2014
| Region/PHE Centre | Outbreaks between weeks 36-39/2014 | Total outbreaks weeks 1-39/2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outbreaks | Ward/bay closure* | Lab-confirmed | Outbreaks | Ward/bay closure* | Lab-confirmed | |
| Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire | 3 | 3 | 2 | 54 | 54 | 34 |
| Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cheshire and Merseyside | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cumbria and Lancashire | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 20 | 11 |
| Devon, Cornwall and Somerset | 1 | 1 | 1 | 46 | 45 | 23 |
| Greater Manchester | – | – | – | 15 | 14 | 4 |
| Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Dorset | – | – | – | 22 | 22 | 13 |
| Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire | 4 | 4 | 4 | 40 | 39 | 31 |
| London | – | – | – | 7 | 7 | 5 |
| Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| North east | 3 | 3 | 2 | 47 | 41 | 33 |
| Sussex, Surrey and Kent | 1 | 1 | – | 24 | 24 | 17 |
| Thames Valley | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 13 | 5 |
| West Midlands | 1 | 1 | – | 51 | 50 | 26 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 2 | 2 | 1 | 101 | 84 | 85 |
| Total | 18 | 16 | 12 | 443 | 414 | 288 |
* Note: not all outbreaks result in whole wards closures, some closures are restricted to bays only.
Figure 1. Current weekly norovirus laboratory reports compared to weekly average 2006 to 2010 (to week 39)
In the current season to date † (from week 27, 2014, to week 39, 2015), there were 785 laboratory reports of norovirus. This is 50% higher than the average number of laboratory reports for the same period in the seasons between 2009/2010 and 2013/2014 (523)*. The number of laboratory reports in the most recent weeks will increase as further reports are received.
† The norovirus season runs from July to June (week 27 in year 1 to week 26 in year 2) in order to capture the winter peak in one season.
Figure 2. Norovirus laboratory reports in the current season, compared with previous years (to week 39)