THREE WARDS at Ninewells Hospital remained closed to new admissions last night owing to the winter vomiting bug, writes Marjory Inglis, health reporter.

There are a total of 63 beds in the two general medical wards and one surgical ward affected.

No details of how many patients have symptoms of sickness and diarrhoea were made available yesterday.

Ward 8, a surgical ward, closed to new admissions last Thursday, followed by wards 2 and 14 over the weekend.

An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said the decision to close the wards to new admissions was taken “due to an increase in diarrhoea and vomiting”.

Last month ward 6 at Ninewells was closed to new admissions for 11 days due the winter vomiting virus.

Infection control specialists ordered a ban on new admissions to the ward at a time when the norovirus, commonly known as the winter vomiting bug, was closing hospital wards throughout the UK.

The ban on admissions to wards is taken as a precaution to stop further spread of the infection. Patients already in the wards affected continue to be cared for there.

The virus 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 in the community to stay at home and refrain from visiting relatives and friends in hospital for 48 hours after symptoms have gone away to avoid further spread.