Health officials in Newport are investigating eight cases of salmonella at the city’s Royal Gwent Hospital.
According to the BBC, a hospital spokesman said that it was not yet clear whether those suffering from the bacterial infection had caught it in the community or in the hospital.
GPs in the area have been contacted to alert them to the possibility the bug may be present in the community.
Salmonella is a type of bacteria and can cause food poisoning, typhoid fever and paratyphoid. It is usually associated with eating contaminated foods. All eight are said to be recovering well.
Of the eight at the hospital only some of them were showing symptoms when they arrived. Symptoms can range from mild to severe and may include watery or bloody diarrhoea, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting and fever.
The cases are being investigated by Aneurin Bevan Health Board, Public Health Wales and Newport council’s environmental health department. The health board stated: “We are contacting GPs to alert them to the possibility of salmonella in patients presenting from the community with symptoms” and that “Members of the public should continue to access healthcare in the usual way through NHS direct or their own GP.”
At this point it is difficult to determine where the salmonella infection has come from. If it is from a restaurant through contaminated food then I am sure that the number of patients admitted to hospital will continue to rise until the offending restaurant is identified. However, if it has spread within the hospital then this will call in to question the hospitals cleaning procedures and the standard of care taken by staff members to ensure that they do not pass the infection from person to person. Amongst other things this will require that staff ensure that they wash their hands after dealing with a person with the illness before coming in to contact with another patient.
