Suspected and laboratory-confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals: outbreaks occurring in weeks 27 to 31, 2015
Updated 15 January 2016
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The hospital norovirus outbreak reporting scheme (HNORS) recorded 12 outbreaks occurring between weeks 27 and 31, 2015, all of which led to ward/bay closures or restriction to admissions. Five outbreaks (42%) were recorded as laboratory confirmed due to norovirus (see table). For the calendar year 2015 鈥� between week 1 (January) and week 31 (week beginning 27 July) 鈥� 533 outbreaks were reported. Ninety-five per cent (504) of reported outbreaks resulted in ward/bay closures or restrictions to admissions and 67% (358) were laboratory confirmed as due to norovirus (see table).
Suspected and laboratory-confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals, with regional breakdown: outbreaks occurring in weeks 27 to 31 of 2015.
| Region/PHE Centre | Outbreaks between weeks 27 to 31/2015 | Total outbreaks weeks 1 to 31/2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 听 | Outbreaks | Ward/bay closure* | Lab-confirmed | Outbreaks | Ward/bay closure* | Lab-confirmed |
| Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 60 | 59 | 47 |
| Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Cheshire and Merseyside | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 8 | 6 | 8 |
| Cumbria and Lancashire | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 38 | 37 | 20 |
| Devon, Cornwall and Somerset | 1 | 1 | 鈥� | 111 | 111 | 77 |
| Greater Manchester | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 17 | 14 | 8 |
| Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Dorset | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 24 | 23 | 19 |
| Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 18 | 17 | 14 |
| London | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� |
| North east | 3 | 3 | 2 | 48 | 45 | 30 |
| Sussex, Surrey and Kent | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 17 | 13 |
| Thames Valley | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| West Midlands | 4 | 4 | 鈥� | 109 | 106 | 56 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 3 | 3 | 2 | 68 | 55 | 58 |
| Total | 12 | 12 | 5 | 533 | 504 | 358 |
* Note: not all outbreaks result in whole wards closures, some closures are restricted to bays only.
In the current season to date 鈥�, there have been 295 laboratory reports of norovirus (from week 27, 2014, to week 31, 2015). This is 35% higher than the average number of laboratory reports for the same period in the seasons between 2009/2010 and 2013/2014 (237).
鈥� 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 the earlier report (based on LabBase2) and the new system (SGSS) may not be valid.