AN OUTBREAK of winter vomiting disease has struck about 90 people and affected almost half the wards at Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

The virus causes diarrhoea and vomiting but in most cases clears up within 48 hours and there is no lasting harm.

So far 33 staff and 57 patients have caught the infection, and relatives and friends are being advised to stay away from the hospital.

Special measures have been put in place to try to contain the spread of the virus.

Patients with the infection are being grouped together in wards and clinical staff are working to create clean wards into which new patients can be admitted. Seven of the hospital’s 16 wards have been affected.

After consulting with Dr Mati Chandrakumar, director of the Kent and Medway Health Protection Agency, extra staff have this week been brought in to help minimise the effect of the infection.

Dr Chandrakumar said: “At this time of year it is not uncommon to get an outbreak like this in a hospital. It was probably brought in by patients who had already caught it and were incubating it.

“When a patient vomits in a confined space like a hospital ward it tends to spread - the viral droplets become airborne and can infect anyone close to that patient.

“It is a very mild illness. The greatest potential danger is dehydration and we are recommending to anyone affected that they drink as much as possible.”

Elaine Strachan-Hall, director of nursing, midwifery and quality for the East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust, added: “This happens in every hospital, it’s part of hospital life. But it does take up a lot of resources in terms of the extra cleaning and precautions.

“Normally a ward is cleaned everyday. We are having to clean horizontal surfaces several times a day. We’re also changing curtains and bedclothes more frequently.”

Anyone concerned about a friend or relative in the hospital should ring the switchboard on 01227 766877.