Slow reaction aided virus spread in Japan

The outbreak of a norovirus infection that has left six hospital patients dead in Nichinan, Japan's Miyazaki Prefecture, may have spread due to a delay in proper actions taken by the hospital, according to informed sources.

"It is quite regrettable that six patients have died in our hospital due probably to the norovirus infection. We are sorry for the delay in reporting the outbreak [to the local public health centre," said Shigekazu Miyaji, head of the Shunko-kai medical association, during a press conference held at the prefectural government office Sunday.

The association operates Higashi Hospital in the city, at which six patients died, likely from norovirus infection.

The mass infection at the hospital occurred amid a growing fear of a nation-wide spread of the infection, while the health ministry has called on hospitals and other establishments to take thorough preventive measures.

Suspecting a problem of hygiene maintenance on the part of the hospital, as it failed to respond promptly enough, the prefectural government will continue its probe into the case.

On December 12, when a patient was confirmed to have complained of diarrhea and vomiting, the hospital judged it as an ordinary case of vomiting.

Two days later, however, the patient died. Last Monday, when the hospital reported the suspected infection of norovirus to the local public health centre, two more patients had died.

"We did not report the outbreak to the local health centre as we were not sure [that it was an infection of norovirus], but it was our mistake. Our hospital staff, with no awareness of the possible norovirus infection, touched other patients, which may have spread the infection," Miyaji said.

During the on-site inspection by officials of the local public health centre last Tuesday, hospital officials and nursing staff were instructed to change their aprons after they handled bodily waste of the patients, but they failed to do so thoroughly enough.

It was also found that staff had contact with aprons that the deadly virus may have adhered to. The deaths of the patients were reported to the prefectural government only on Saturday.

"Due to a wide spread of the norovirus, there was a shortage of aprons nationwide. As patients developed symptoms of infections one after another, hospital staff were too busy coping with the outbreak [to report it appropriately]," said an official of the hospital.

"If our instructions had been followed, the outbreak would not have spread this far," said an official at the infection countermeasures section at the prefectural government.