Visitors told to stay away

5 May 2010, 06:00 | Updated: 5 May 2010, 11:04

A number of hospital wards have been affected by and outbreak of a Diarrhoea & Vomiting illness.

As a result, people are being told not to visit relatives and friends at Cheltenham General Hospital and Ward 7b at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, to help stop it spreading.

The Hospital Trust told Heart several wards at both hospitals have been affected by the D&V illness, of which there are a number of cases in the community at this time of year. The illness usually comes into hospital when a patient is admitted for an unrelated illness or procedure.

The D&V illness usually has relatively mild symptoms and is over within 48 hrs, but is highly infectious, which is why the Trust needs to limit the number of people moving in and out of wards.

Dr Jim Stone, Director of Infection Prevention and Control said:

“This is a precautionary measure and good infection control practice to protect patients and control the spread of the illness. I hope that families and friends will understand why we are asking them not to visit for this short period.”

We spoke to Dr Stone who described the virus and why its important to follow the precautions.

Click here to listen to the interview.

The visiting restrictions will be reviewed every day and lifted as soon as possible, however it is expected that they will be in place until the end of this week (Friday 7th May).

The general advice to anyone suffering D&V at home is to keep hydrated, maintain high standards of personal hygiene and hand washing. NHS Direct can be contacted on 0800 45 46 47.