Suspected and laboratory-confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals: outbreaks occurring in weeks 44 to 47, 2017
Updated 8 December 2017
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The hospital norovirus outbreak reporting scheme (HNORS) recorded 20 outbreaks occurring between weeks 44 and 47, 2017, all of which led to ward/bay closures or restriction to admissions and 17 of which (85 per cent) were recorded as laboratory-confirmed due to norovirus. From week 1 (week beginning 2 January 2017) and week 47 (week beginning 20 November 2017) 265 outbreaks were reported. Ninety-four per cent (197) of reported outbreaks resulted in ward/bay closures or restrictions to admissions and 79% (197) were laboratory-confirmed as due to norovirus.
Suspected and laboratory-confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals, with regional breakdown: outbreaks occurring in weeks 44 to 47 of 2017
| Region/PHE Centre | Outbreaks between weeks 44 to 47, 2017 | Total outbreaks weeks 1 to 47, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outbreaks | Ward/bay closure* | Lab-confirmed | Outbreaks | Ward/bay closure* | Lab-confirmed | |
| East of England | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| East Midlands | – | – | – | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| London | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| North East | 2 | 2 | 2 | 37 | 34 | 21 |
| North West | 1 | 1 | – | 29 | 28 | 23 |
| South East | 1 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 21 | 17 |
| South West | 12 | 12 | 11 | 74 | 72 | 61 |
| West Midlands | 1 | 1 | – | 56 | 52 | 39 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 3 | 3 | 3 | 32 | 27 | 22 |
| Total | 20 | 20 | 17 | 265 | 249 | 197 |
* Note: not all outbreaks result in whole wards closures, some closures are restricted to bays only.
In the current season to date † (from week 1, 2017, to week 47, 2017), there were 4263 laboratory reports of norovirus. This is 36% lower than the average number of laboratory reports for the same period in the seasons between 2012 and 2016 (6636).
† 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 earlier reports (based on LabBase2) and the new Second Generation Surveillance System (SGSS) may not be valid.