The Health Act 2004 provided for the Health Service Executive, which was established on 1 January 2005. Under the Act, the executive has the responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. This includes responsibility for infection control measures in hospitals. Accordingly, my Department has requested the interim chief executive officer of the Health Service Executive to reply directly to the Deputy on the number of bed days lost in 2004 as a result of outbreaks of norovirus, more commonly referred to as the "winter vomiting bug".
Norovirus is very resilient and is highly infectious and can remain infectious for long periods. As it is a community infection, outbreaks in hospitals are simply a gauge or reflection of what is happening in the community. While outbreaks cannot be eradicated, they can be controlled. The HSE's Health Protection Surveillance Centre, formerly the National Disease Surveillance Centre, has published guidelines on the management of outbreaks of gastroenteritis. These guidelines provide a framework to address the challenge of outbreaks of gastroenteritis in hospitals and other settings caused by norovirus.