MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
December 27 , 2012
Influenza A at University Hospital
LONDON, Ontario – An Alert Level Two Outbreak has been called for Influenza A on 4- Inpatient Medicine Unit North West Corridor at University Hospital.
A level two can be declared when there have been two laboratory confirmed cases of hospital acquired influenza (patient has been in facility for more than 72 hours) on a specific unit during incubation/communicability period.
Patients with Influenza A have been placed in private rooms or are in a room with another patient who is positive. Alert Level Two Outbreak signs have been placed on the unit, and information has been provided for families and visitors. Environmental service workers are cleaning the rooms on the units twice daily. No new patients are currently being admitted to the unit.
“We are continuing with measures to prevent further transmission of Influenza A amongst our patients,” says Dr. Michael John, Medical Director, Infection Prevention & Control. “Our primary concern is always the health and well-being of our patients, and we ask that family or visitors do not come to the hospital if they themselves are feeling unwell.”
In collaboration with the Middlesex-London Health Unit these cases have been reported as an outbreak, utilizing the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s criteria for public reporting.
About London Health Sciences Centre
London Health Sciences Centre has been in the forefront of medicine in Canada for 137 years and offers the broadest range of specialized clinical services in Ontario. Building on the traditions of its founding hospitals to provide compassionate care in an academic teaching setting, London Health Sciences Centre is home to Children’s Hospital, South Street Hospital, University Hospital, Victoria Hospital, two family medical centres, and two research institutes – Children’s Health Research Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute, a joint research initiative with St. Joseph’s Health Care London. As a leader in medical discovery and health research, London Health Sciences Centre has a history of over 50 international and national firsts and attracts top clinicians and researchers from around the world. As a regional referral centre, London Health Sciences Centre cares for the most medically complex patients including critically injured adults and children in southwestern Ontario and beyond. The hospital’s nearly 15,000 staff, physicians, students and volunteers provide care for more than one million patient visits a year. For more information visit www.lhsc.on.ca
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London Health Sciences Centre
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