GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Restrictions are now in place for visitors at all seven ThedaCare hospitals. To prevent the spread of the flu, children under twelve will temporarily not be permitted to visit patients in the hospitals.
Starting today (Monday), children under the age of 12 will temporarily not be permitted to visit patients in all seven ThedaCare hospitals: Appleton, Berlin, Neenah, New London, Shawano, Waupaca and Wild Rose. This does not apply to outpatient or clinic services.
That does not apply to outpatient or clinic services. Another exception is siblings, who do not have cold or flu symptoms, may visit the OB unit.
“It puts our patients at risk and also our medical staff potentially at risk,” says ThedaCare Director of Infection Control Dr. David Brooks.
Hospitals instituting visitor restrictions is not an uncommon practice.
“It’s a fairly common decision. Every year the medical system throughout the state has to take additional precautionary measures to prevent the spread or transmission of influenza and other respiratory viruses from coming into the hospital,” Brooks says, “Younger patients under twelve can be frequent carriers or have infections. And sometimes it’s necessary to limit their coming into the hospital for routine visits just to help control the spread of influenza.”
As for how long the restrictions will last – it all depends on the numbers.
“We trend the data weekly. The CDC nationally combined with our state and local data – and we’ll make that decision when we see the trend is falling low enough to where the potential for transmission is really getting low,” Brooks tells WTAQ News.
There are a number of tips and tricks to avoid getting or spreading influenza, all of which seem pretty generic.
“It’s not too late to get vaccinated. We really encourage anyone over the age of six months to consult with their physician and get vaccinated as soon as possible,” Brooks says, “It’s better to start early because it can really go even late into the season with potential benefits then.”
All HSHS hospitals also have visitor restrictions in place at this time.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Services, the state has seen 459 hospitalizations for influenza this season, more than three times as many than at this time last year. This season has already had 11 deaths as well.
