By Marjory Inglis, health reporter

INFECTION CONTROL experts ordered a ban on further admissions to a medical ward at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee yesterday.

Ward six stopped admitting new patients because of an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug that has been sweeping the country and closing wards in hospitals elsewhere.

Patients already in ward six are continuing to be looked after there.

Infection control experts monitoring the situation at the hospital took the decision to stop all new admissions to ward six after a number of patients developed symptoms.

An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said it was not the first time over the winter that the hospital had to close a ward to new admissions.

She confirmed that the hospital had been closing wards to new admissions because of sickness and diarrhoea since the beginning of November. When there was a rise in cases noted on individual wards, the wards had access restricted as a precautionary measure.

Norovirus, commonly known as the winter vomiting bug, is present in the community and it is impossible to know how many people have been affected.

The spokeswoman for NHS Tayside was quick to point out that even when hospital wards remained fully open, there could be patients with the bug on the wards. When numbers on individual wards remain manageable, they are dealt with as they arise.

“The winter vomiting bug is something that is prevalent within the community at this time of year as it is very common,” she said.

The disease spreads by contact with an infected person, through contaminated food or water or by contact with contaminated surfaces or objects.

Experts advise those affected to drink plenty of fluids and take paracetamol to treat the virus. They also advise sufferers to stay at home for 48 hours after symptoms have gone away to avoid further spread.

Earlier NHS Tayside’s out-of-hours service medical director Joyce Meikle said numbers attending the emergency primary care centres that operate when GP surgeries are closed were down on last year. She said there had been no great demand from winter vomiting.