The University Medical Center announced limits to patient visitation last Wednesday, citing an increase in flu cases.
In order to prevent the spread of the flu to patients and hospital staff, the Medical Center and Children’s Hospital has limited visitation to the inpatient units and Emergency Department. Only immediate family members and care partners, or adults designated as the point of contact for some patients, may visit.
Additionally, patients are only allowed two visitors at a time, and children under 12 are prohibited from visits. All visitors must be free of any flu symptoms, which include runny nose, fever chills, cough and body aches.
The Medical Center has not set a timeframe for how long these changes to the visitation policy will remain in effect, Health System spokesperson Eric Swensen said.
“Similar visitation changes have not been put in place in several years,” Swensen said in an email. “Because of the severity of this flu season, we decided to put these temporary visitation changes in place.”
The number of flu cases has increased dramatically this year.
“As of January 7, we had 212 lab-confirmed flu cases this flu season,” Swensen said. “For comparison, on January 7, 2014, we had 34 lab-confirmed flu cases during last year's flu season.”
In four days, the number of flu cases confirmed this year has risen to 222. Bo Cofield, associate vice president of hospital and clinic operations, said this may be due to a new and more aggressive flu strain.
“We think that some versions of the flu virus are more apt to cause disease, and this year we have a version of the flu virus that we haven’t seen before,” Cofield said in an email. “Having a new version of the flu may make it tougher for people to fight it off.”
The limitations were also put in place because the sources of flu contagion are often ambiguous.
“When someone is diagnosed with the flu, it’s challenging to tell how or where they contracted the flu,” Cofield said in an email. “Cold weather increases the time people spend indoors in close proximity to others, which will facilitate the spread of the flu.”
Despite the limitations on visitation, Cofield said patients have been tolerant of the temporary restrictions.
“In general, our patients and visitors have been very understanding about our reasons for limiting visitation,” Cofield said.
Cofield said to further prevent the spread of the flu, the University Medical Center has also inoculated the vast majority of its staff.
“We administered 7,190 doses of the flu vaccine this fall,” Cofield said in an email. “This represents 94 percent of Medical Center caregivers.”
The Medical Center and Patricia Lampkin, the University’s vice president and chief student affairs officer, both encouraged students to get the flu vaccine, despite questions about whether it protects from the strain of flu currently spreading.
“Even though this year's flu vaccine is not an ideal match to the flu strains that are circulating, it is still the best thing the public can do to reduce their risk for the flu,” Swensen said.
Lampkin’s email to the student body also said students should take measures such as washing hands, using hand sanitizer, avoiding the sick and wearing a face mask when caring for ill friends and roommates.
“If caring for a sick roommate, loved one, or friend, wear a plain surgical mask (available from Student Health or a pharmacy),” Lampkin said in an email. “The ill person should also wear a mask when others are present.”
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