[Tang-residents] FW: update on norovirus issue

[Michael Collins]

-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Collins [mailto:colins at MIT.EDU] 
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 8:41 AM
To: 'Housemasters'; graduatehousing at mit.edu
Cc: hmgr at mit.edu
Subject: update on norovirus issue



I want to share with you a message just sent by Dr William Kettyle of MIT
Medical regarding a presumed Norovirus outbreak at Babson College. 





The email text that follows summarizes what MIT Medical knows, what MIT is
doing
and how MIT is planning to deal with the potential for an episode of
viral gastroenteritis on our campus.  Hopefully this will simply amount
to a good practice exercise.

Please circulate this message as widely as you deem appropriate and
WASH HANDS FREQUENTLY, COMPLETELY AND CAREFULLY - Consider
elbow-butting, and/or winking as surrogates for hand-shaking,
high-fiving, and hugging (at least for the near term).


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Norovirus (presumed) at Babson College:

There is no evidence of norovirus activity on the MIT campus.  
Wash hands carefully, completely and frequently.

Babson College will *close* until at least April 1, 2009 because of
an outbreak of what appears to be a viral gastroenteritis - possibly
norovirus.   As is usually the case, no source has been identified.  The
risk of transmission is decreased by decreasing contact among members of
the community at risk.  Babson students may remain in their dorms, but
communal activities - classes, athletic events, etc - will not be held. 
Using techniques similar to those deployed when similar infections have
occurred on cruise ships, a thorough cleaning of facilities is underway
at Babson.

There has been no evidence of an increase in gastrointestinal symptoms
on our campus.  As student return from spring break, we will be vigilant
and our staff has been alerted to the potential for an outbreak.

The following URLs provide some current thinking about norovirus
infections.

Center for Disease Control:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus-qa.htmv  

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Public Health:

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2pressrelease&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Eeohhs2&b=pre
ssrelease&f=090223_norovirus&csid=Eeohhs2  

At Babson:

Babson was on *Spring Break* from 3/16 - 3/20 - so students were
back on campus for several days before:
	The outbreak began on March 25
	More than 100 students and staff have been affected
                No irregularities or obvious problems with dining hall
hygiene were found by the Wellesley Board of Health.


At MIT:

	We have not seen any increase in gastrointestinal complaints
	We have alerted our personnel (Medical Department) to the
potential for norovirus infection
	We are alerting MEDlinks and our Ambulance Service about the
potential for an outbreak - they are an important component of our early
warning system
                We are informing DSL, Housing, Dining, EHS and senior
administration about our plans and are asking them to be on alert 
                Early identification and management of potentially
contaminated foods or surfaces will help stem the spread of the virus if
there is evidence of infestation.
	Emphasizing careful hand washing and careful food handling are
key
	Information will be available on our web-site shortly
	We will convene our (Medical) incidence response team in the AM
- hopefully it will simply be a good practice opportunity!

WASH HANDS FREQUENTLY, COMPLETELY AND CAREFULLY - Consider
elbow-butting, and/or winking as surrogates for hand-shaking,
high-fiving, and hugging (at least for the near term).

Please let us know if you have any comments, observations or
suggestions.


William M. Kettyle, MD

William M. Kettyle, MD
Medical Director
MIT Medical Department
E23-281
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307