[Archived] Update on Gastrointestinal Illnesses at Alexandria Nursing Homes

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For More Information Contact:
Tuesday February 24, 2004 Bob Custard 571.221.7288 (cell)
3:00 p.m. Environmental Health Manager
Alexandria Health Department

UPDATE ON GASTROINTESTINAL ILLNESSES
AT ALEXANDRIA NURSING HOMES

Three assisted living/nursing home facilities in the City of Alexandria experienced an increased number of cases of gastrointestinal illness during the last week. As of noon today, of the 96 persons reported to be ill, 68 have already recovered.

The Alexandria Health Department is actively working with the staff of area nursing facilities to determine the cause of this increased number of illnesses. This is being done by gathering information from facility management about ill patients and staff and by obtaining samples for laboratory testing. Sample results from the state laboratory are not expected before Wednesday or Thursday.

Preliminary information from the facilities indicates that the cause of the illness may be norovirus, a common gastrointestinal disease characterized by nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Norovirus is highly infectious and is easily spread from person to person. Symptoms generally last between two and three days, without serious or long-term health effects. Young children, elderly persons or immunocompromised persons are most at risk of serious complications from this illness.

These outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness are part of a larger regional and statewide trend of outbreaks in nursing homes, schools and child care centers over the last week. As of noon today, no schools or child care centers in Alexandria have reported outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness. However, as a precaution the Alexandria Health Department is distributing information to schools and child care centers about norovirus and how to prevent it.

The three affected nursing home/assisted living facilities in Alexandria are continuing to actively work with the Alexandria Health Department to implement measures to contain possible further spread of this illness. These measures include:
1. strict handwashing precautions,
2. minimizing contact between ill and well residents,
3. excluding any ill employees,
4. using disposable tableware for foodservice operations,
5. disinfecting all possibly contaminated surfaces, and
6. limiting visitors to the facilities until this illness outbreak is contained.

###