Suspected and laboratory-confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals: outbreaks occurring in weeks 5 to 8, 2015
Updated 15 January 2016
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The hospital norovirus outbreak reporting scheme (HNORS) recorded 110 outbreaks occurring between weeks 5 and 84, 2015, all of which (99%) led to ward/bay closures or restriction to admissions. Eighty-two outbreaks (75%) were recorded as laboratory confirmed due to norovirus (see table). For the calendar year 2015 鈥� between week 1 (January) and week 8 (week beginning 16 February) 鈥� 158 outbreaks were reported. Ninety-nine per cent (166) of reported outbreaks resulted in ward/bay closures or restrictions to admissions and 69% (115) 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 1 to 4 of 2015
| Region/PHE Centre | Outbreaks between weeks 5 to 8/2015 | Total outbreaks weeks 1 to 8/2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 听 | Outbreaks | Ward/bay closure* | Lab-confirmed | Outbreaks | Ward/bay closure* | Lab-confirmed |
| Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire | 25 | 25 | 20 | 28 | 28 | 22 |
| Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Cheshire and Merseyside | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Cumbria and Lancashire | 12 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 19 | 9 |
| Devon, Cornwall and Somerset | 15 | 15 | 10 | 21 | 21 | 13 |
| Greater Manchester | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 2 |
| Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Dorset | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| London | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� |
| North east | 7 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 17 | 11 |
| Sussex, Surrey and Kent | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Thames Valley | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� | 鈥� |
| West Midlands | 16 | 16 | 9 | 34 | 33 | 21 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Total | 110 | 109 | 82 | 168 | 166 | 115 |
* Note: not all outbreaks result in whole wards closures, some closures are restricted to bays only.
Current season鈥檚 laboratory reports (to week 8, 2015) compared to previous seasons鈥� weekly average (England and Wales)
In the current season to date 鈥� (from week 27, 2014, to week 8, 2015), there were 4824 laboratory reports of norovirus. This is 10% lower than the average number of laboratory reports for the same period in the seasons between 2009/2010 and 2013/2014 (5831).
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.
Current season鈥檚 laboratory reports (to week 8, 2015) compared to previous seasons鈥� weekly average (England and Wales)