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Virus suspected as 42 at nursing home sickened
Staff members, residents suffer vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps
Journal Map by Richard Boyd II
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Published: December 13, 2008
Forty-two residents and staff members at the Oaks at Forsyth became ill this week of what appears to be a gastrointestinal virus, officials say.
The staff at the Oaks called the Forsyth County Health Department on Wednesday to report the outbreak among 27 residents and 15 staff members, said Freda Springs, a spokeswoman for Forsyth Medical Center, which owns the nursing home on Bethesda Road in Winston-Salem.
Residents and staff members had symptoms that included vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and abdominal cramps, Freda said. The Oaks has 151 residents.
Linda Means, the county's communicable-disease nursing supervisor, said that the health department sent several specimens to the state laboratory in Raleigh to determine whether it was a virus or bacteria that made the people sick.
"We don't know what it is," Means said. "If it turns up to be a norovirus, that means everyone could get it. It is very contagious."
Noroviruses cause acute gastroenteritis or stomach flu in humans, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An infected person also may have headache and fever.
The Oaks implemented several measures to prevent the spread of the illness, Means and Springs said. Noroviruses are prevalent in nursing homes in the late autumn and early winter.
The affected staff members were sent home, and family members of the residents were asked not to visit the nursing home, Springs said. Officials suspended visiting hours and group activities at the Oaks.
"We hate to inconvenience family members and visitors, but it is the right thing to do," Springs said.
Officials also are limiting contact among the residents. Employees are required to wash their hands often, disinfect soiled carpets and restrict ill patients to their rooms, Means said.
A nurse and environmental-health specialist visited the Oaks to answer questions, review the steps taken to prevent the spread of the illness, and to provide support to staff members and residents, Means said.
"We talk with them every day," she said. "We will continue to do so until the outbreak is resolved."
The people who became ill are being treated with fluids, said Dr. James Gerrini, the medical director of PrimeCare. Seven people at the PrimeCare clinic on Highland Oaks Drive also became ill this week.
It can take up to 48 hours for symptoms to occur in a person affected by the virus, Springs said. The symptoms can last from one to 10 days.
The viruses that cause gastroenteritis are spread through close contact with infected persons, the CDC says. People also become infected by eating or drinking contaminated food or beverages.
Food may be contaminated by preparers or handlers who have viral gastroenteritis, especially if they failed to wash their hands regularly after using restrooms, the CDC says.
David Bergmire-Sweat, the state's epidemiologist for foodborne disease, said that 1 million to 2 million North Carolinians get viral gastroenteritis every year.
The CDC estimates that 25 percent of all Americans experience the virus annually.
■ John Hinton can be reached at 727-7299 or at jhinton@wsjournal.com.
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