Oct 15, 2009 9:22 pm US/Eastern
H1N1 Flu Causing Some Concern For Hospital Visits
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
Because of H1N1 flu fears, a number of hospitals across the country are banning children from visiting, including Johns Hopkins, Stanford and university hospitals in Atlanta.
Locally, it depends.
Jefferson Regional Medical Center prohibits visitation of children under 14 years of age.
"It's been a long-standing policy that we have and I think it's based off of what you see in the literature related to childhood illnesses, immunizations," Louise Urban, chief nursing officer, said.
It's even more of a concern now because children are known to spread the flu.
"We actually see less people really wanting to bring children into the hospital, and I think it's because of the attention in the media," Urban said. "And everybody does have a heightened sense of awareness to protect themselves, to protect their children and patients and our hospital workers."
As for other area hospitals, Children's Hospital, St. Clair Hospital and UPMC hospitals are not banning visitors under 14.
They're just using common sense measures and urging parents to keep any kids with flu-like symptoms at home.
Allegheny General is having a meeting Friday of its H1N1 committee to discuss the issue, but as of now, it is not banning young visitors.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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