Suspected and laboratory-confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals: outbreaks occurring in weeks 14 to 17, 2016
Updated 13 January 2017
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The hospital norovirus outbreak reporting scheme (HNORS) recorded 46 outbreaks occurring between weeks 14 and 17, 2016, all of which led to ward/bay closures or restriction to admissions. Thirty-three outbreaks (72%) were recorded as laboratory confirmed due to norovirus. Between week 1 (January 2016) and week 17 (week beginning 25 April 2016) 268 outbreaks were reported. Ninety-seven per cent (259) of reported outbreaks resulted in ward/bay closures or restrictions to admissions and 80% (215) were laboratory confirmed as due to norovirus.
Suspected and laboratory-confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals, with regional breakdown: outbreaks occurring in weeks 14 to 17 of 2016
| Region/PHE Centre | Outbreaks between weeks 14 to 17/2016 | Total outbreaks weeks 1 to 17/2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outbreaks | Ward/bay closure* | Lab-confirmed | Outbreaks | Ward/bay closure* | Lab-confirmed | |
| Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire | 14 | 14 | 11 | 39 | 39 | 28 |
| Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Cheshire and Merseyside | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Cumbria and Lancashire | – | – | – | 13 | 13 | 8 |
| Devon, Cornwall and Somerset | 9 | 9 | 6 | 17 | 17 | 12 |
| Greater Manchester | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 8 |
| Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Dorset | 5 | 5 | 4 | 25 | 25 | 21 |
| Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire | – | – | – | 12 | 11 | 11 |
| London | – | – | – | 12 | 11 | 11 |
| Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| North east | 2 | 2 | 2 | 51 | 48 | 43 |
| Sussex, Surrey and Kent | – | – | – | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Thames Valley | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 9 |
| West Midlands | 7 | 7 | 3 | 26 | 25 | 21 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 1 | 1 | – | 54 | 51 | 45 |
| Total | 46 | 46 | 33 | 39 | 259 | 215 |
* Note: not all outbreaks result in whole wards closures, some closures are restricted to bays only.
In the current season to date † (from week 27, 2015, to week 17, 2016), there were 3329 laboratory reports of norovirus. This is 20% lower than the average number of laboratory reports for the same period in the seasons between 2009/2010 and 2014/2015 (4151).
† 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 system (SGSS) may not be valid.