CHOP implements improvements after norovirus affects 19 staffers
Health Department report says the hospital failed to properly bleach the room of a patient with the bug.
CHILDREN'S Hospital of Philadelphia recently improved its virus-detection process after a state Health Department investigation revealed the room of a patient suffering from norovirus in April was inadequately cleaned amid an outbreak among nurses there.
The Health Department report was based on an investigation completed in May after 19 nursing staffers working in the same unit fell ill with norovirus - a highly contagious but generally nonlife-threatening gastrointestinal bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea.
The report found that the room of a patient suffering from the virus in the same unit on the weekend of April 5-6 had not been properly cleaned with bleach as required by the hospital's infection-control policy. All but three of the affected staffers had developed symptoms between March 11 and March 23, before the inadequate cleaning, according to the report.
The report said hospital procedures also were not properly followed in early March when a patient's mother displayed norovirus symptoms March 8 while visiting. "There was no documented evidence that [Infection Control] was notified of this incident," the report said. Whether that patient room was adequately cleaned is unclear in the report.
The Health Department investigation also found that staffers who were out sick with norovirus were not instructed to follow hospital protocol of staying home until they were symptom-free for 48 hours until March 27 - after the majority of the affected staff already had been ill. Only three additional staffers fell ill after that date, the report said.
CHOP yesterday released a statement addressing the report, saying that the incident "reminded us that continuous process improvements are an important part of early virus detection and that ongoing training is essential to ensure patient and staff safety."
In light of recent Ebola virus infections of nursing staffers in Texas, the hospital statement added, "The process-improvements that are now in place will help to support CHOP's broader preparations, currently under way, to address the potential posed by the most recent viral outbreaks."
A version of this story was first reported by blogger Walter F. Roche Jr.