Virus Suspected in North Carolina Nursing Home

Dan Frith

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Did you see this story, "Virus Suspected as 42 at Nursing Home Sickened"? It was a headline from the Winston-Salem (NC) Journal. The story is about residents and staff members at the Oaks at Forsyth who became ill last week from a a gastrointestinal virus. The symptoms included vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and abdominal cramps.

These types of symptoms are not life-threatening for most adult Americans. However, they can be deadly for the elderly, especially when they have other significant medical conditions. To the credit of the nursing home administration, several measures where taken to prevent the spread of the illness. The affected staff members were sent home, and family members of the residents were asked not to visit the nursing home. Officials also suspended visiting hours and group activities at the Oaks.

Nursing homes must be vigilant to make sure that communicable diseases don't become widespread in their facilities. You can't stop it....but you can make certain the illness doesn't spread throughout the facility and result in the unnecessary and tragic loss of life.