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Medical Center, Children’s Hospital limit visitors during flu outbreak

Posted on | October 21, 2009 | 683 views |

The higher-than-normal incidence of influenza this season has caused both the Medical Center and Nationwide Children’s Hospital to limit access to patient care rooms by young visitors.

To protect patients, families, visitors and staff from the spread of seasonal and H1N1 influenza, both facilities have restricted visitation to patient rooms to immediate family members who are over 12 and who have no flu-like symptoms.

Obviously, the restrictions do not apply to children who come for medical treatment. The restrictions are temporary and in response to the elevated incidence of influenza in the central Ohio area. Most area hospitals are limiting access to children becasue they’re more susceptible than adults to certain strains of the flu virus, particularly H1N1.

Hospitalized patients are at higher risk if they are exposed to someone with influenza and respiratory illnesses.
All hospitals within the Medical Center, including University Hospital, the James Cancer Hospital, Ross Heart Hospital, Dodd Hall, OSU/Harding and University Hospital East, as well as Nationwide Children’s, have restrictions in place.

Visitation to the Neonatal Intensive Care and Bone Marrow Transplant units at Children’s had been restricted to patients/guardians and grandparents only for about four weeks prior to this latest restriction and will remain.

“While Nationwide Children’s Hospital maintains a philosophy of family-centered care and usually encourages siblings of any age to visit inpatients if the siblings are free of colds or other illnesses, there is evidence that children under 12 years of age are more likely to carry and spread viruses,” Children’s officials said in a release.

Children’s normally implements visitor restrictions to some degree during each influenza season, according to the release, and the hospital will continue to monitor the spread of influenza this season and expand its visitor restrictions if necessary.

For up-to-date information on the restrictions, additional limitations that might be in place at specific OSU Medical Center facilities, as well as flu-prevention information, go to flu.osu.edu, medicalcenter.osu.edu or nationwidechildrens.org/h1n1 or call 293-5123.

Do your part

Frequent hand washing and coughing or sneezing into your sleeve help to limit the spread of the flu virus.

Flu-like symptoms include a fever greater than 100.4 degrees with a cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, headaches, fatigue or body aches.

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