Norovirus Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Norovirus Blog

The New York Department of Health has made it official.  Norovirus made nearly 400 guests sick at the Six Flags Great Escape Lodge & Indoor Waterpark in Queensbury, New York.

Capital News 9 reports:

The department has concluded that the illness was in fact a norovirus.

The department also said that less than ten new cases have been reported in the past four days, and the spread of the illness is declining.

The report did not determine the origin of the virus, but both drinking water and water in the park has been tested. Both came back negative for bacteria

Go here for more.

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When we first read about people getting sick at the Great Escape Lodge & Indoor Water Park, we were drawn to the comments that followed the story.   There we learned that people with getting sick within four hours of checking-in.   One couple told of the fact that the facility had so many people vomiting, that it was out of towels!

The mystery illness is looking more and more like norovirus.  New York officials have linked the Great Escape to the illnesses of nearly 200 people and more than 300 have called the department's hotline to report symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting after visiting the resort, or to get information.

The Glen Falls Post Star Friday (3/21/08) reported that:

The Department of Health suspects a norovirus is to blame for the sickness, but officials are still awaiting laboratory test results to confirm that.

The same story adds lot's detail into the Great Escape horror story.  It can be found here.

 

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We may have found the one place in North America that's suffered from more norovirus outbreaks this winter than anywhere else.   The prize, we think,  goes to Peterborough, Ontario.

The Peterborough Examiner reports the Canadian city/county has experienced eight norovirus outbreaks in the past 14 months.   Five were at long-term care facilities, two in the schools, and one in a restaurant.  A total of 398 people became ill, but only one required hosptialization.

For  more details go here.

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Throw a dart at a map of the United States and you've got a good chance of hitting someplace where a lot of people are suffering from norovirus.   The latest to fall to the virus is the 65-bed inpatient psychiatric unit at Omaha's Immanuel Medical Center.

The Center won't be letting anyone else into the psych unit until health workers can control a contagious gastrointestinal virus that sickened people there.   Alegent Health, which operates Immanuel, is trying to figure out how the virus got into the Center.  They acknowledge closing the psych unit to outsiders will make it difficult for some in the community get the the psychiatric treatment they need.

Josh Funk, writing for the Beatrice Daily Sun, reports that:

Nine people are sick, including one adolescent and one nurse. There were 44 patients total in the unit on Tuesday, said hospital spokeswoman Kelly Grinnell.

Alegent's medical director of infection control, Richard Starlin, said the contagion causes uncontrollable vomiting, severe diarrhea, headaches and fever.

Alegent has not identified the virus, but Starlin said doctors are highly suspicious it is a norovirus.

Funk also recapped some of the recent noriovirus action around the country, including the closure of two hospitals in Greensboro, N.C. last week, and the return of a cruise ship to San Diego with 104 virus-struck passengers on board.

Funk's story can be found here.

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