An experience of food-borne Norovirus outbreak in a hospital：assessment of the management

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  • Wakabayashi Yukari
    Division of Medical Risk Management, Kohseichuo General Hospital Department of Radiology, Kohseichuo General Hospital
  • Kubota Sanae
    Division of Medical Risk Management, Kohseichuo General Hospital
  • Kohjin Hiroyuki
    Division of Medical Risk Management, Kohseichuo General Hospital Department of Orthopedic surgery, Kohseichuo General Hospital
  • Kudoh Takahiro
    Division of Medical Risk Management, Kohseichuo General Hospital Department of Pharmacy, Kohseichuo General Hospital
  • Muro Daisuke
    Infection Control Team, Kohseichuo General Hospital Department of Anesthesiology, Kohseichuo General Hospital
  • Sakai Nobuko
    Infection Control Team, Kohseichuo General Hospital Department of Internal Medicine, Kohseichuo General Hospital

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  • ノロウイルスによる病院集団食中毒の経験：その対応と評価
  • ノロウイルス ニ ヨル ビョウイン シュウダン ショクチュウドク ノ ケイケン : ソノ タイオウ ト ヒョウカ

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Abstract

<p>We experienced a food-borne norovirus outbreak in the hospital. In the morning of 7 February, 2013, our Certified Nurse Infection Control received reports of the symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea occurring in various divisions in both patients and staffs. The hospital Infection Control Team (ICT) judged this food-borne infection, reported the incident to the regional public health center and closed the hospital's central kitchen. The hospital director subsequently opened a special ICT center which worked as a prevention and staff education center as well as communication center to the regional public health center and mass media. The ICT also organized the daily staff meeting before office hour where all the main staffs were able to know the current status of the infection. Therefore each in-patient and his/her family members could be informed of the condition from their doctors or nurses directly. Since the central kitchen was closed and some of the kitchen staffs were found to be asymptomatic carrier of norovirus, cooking in the hospital was impossible. We served patients with ready-made meal. For the prevention of the recurrence of this accident, ICT examined the kitchen facilities and re-organized the cooking manual. Training of the kitchen staff was also performed by ICT. We did not charge the patients for the meal during the period of outbreak. For the patients who had norovirus symptoms, we also did not charge medical cost during symptomatic period and provided a small sum of money as compensation.</p>

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