Suspected and laboratory-confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals: outbreaks occurring in weeks 1 to 4, 2016
Updated 13 January 2017
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The hospital norovirus outbreak reporting scheme (HNORS) recorded 24 outbreaks occurring between weeks 1 and 4, 2016, 22 of which led to ward/bay closures or restriction to admissions. Eighteen outbreaks (75%) were recorded as laboratory confirmed due to norovirus. Between week 1 (January 2015) and week 53 (week beginning 28 December 2015) 662 outbreaks were reported. Ninety-three per cent (617) of reported outbreaks resulted in ward/bay closures or restrictions to admissions and 66% (436) were laboratory confirmed as due to norovirus.
Suspected and laboratory-confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals, with regional breakdown: outbreaks occurring in weeks 1 to 4 of 2016
| Region/PHE Centre | Outbreaks between weeks 1 to 4/2016 | Total outbreaks weeks 1 to 53/2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outbreaks | Ward/bay closure* | Lab-confirmed | Outbreaks | Ward/bay closure* | Lab-confirmed | |
| Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire | 3 | 3 | 3 | 81 | 79 | 59 |
| Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire | – | – | – | 9 | 9 | 7 |
| Cheshire and Merseyside | – | – | – | 8 | 6 | 8 |
| Cumbria and Lancashire | – | – | – | 40 | 39 | 21 |
| Devon, Cornwall and Somerset | 1 | 1 | 1 | 121 | 121 | 81 |
| Greater Manchester | – | – | – | 18 | 15 | 8 |
| Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Dorset | 6 | 6 | 5 | 26 | 25 | 21 |
| Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire | – | – | – | 29 | 26 | 22 |
| London | – | – | – | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| North east | 8 | 7 | 5 | 72 | 66 | 43 |
| Sussex, Surrey and Kent | – | – | – | 28 | 28 | 19 |
| Thames Valley | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 2 |
| West Midlands | 2 | 2 | 2 | 116 | 113 | 61 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 1 | – | 1 | 99 | 78 | 82 |
| Total | 24 | 22 | 18 | 662 | 617 | 436 |
* Note: not all outbreaks result in whole wards closures, some closures are restricted to bays only.
In the current season to date † (from week 27, 2015, to week 4, 2016), there were 477 laboratory reports of norovirus. This is 62% lower than the average number of laboratory reports for the same period in the seasons between 2009/2010 and 2013/2014 (1252).
† 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.
Note:the number of laboratory reports in the most recent weeks will increase as further reports are received. On 1 December 2014 a new laboratory reporting system was commissioned; as a result, direct comparisons between earlier reports (based on LabBase2) and the new system (SGSS) may not be valid.