23.02.08 9.25am WARDS have been closed again at Weston General Hospital after a vomiting virus struck for the second time in as many months.

WARDS have been closed again at Weston General Hospital after a vomiting virus struck for the second time in as many months.

The Draycott and Burrington wards were closed to new admissions earlier this week following a return of norovirus to the hospital, in Grange Road.

The same measure was put in place last month after an outbreak of the vomiting and diarrhoea bug swept across England over the Christmas period.

The illness is brought into hospitals by visitors and is easily spread by contact with infected people.

Some patients do not realise they are already incubating the virus when they attend hospital.

Weston Area Health Trust, which runs the hospital, is asking people to stay away if they have upset stomachs or tummy bugs.

They must not visit until the symptoms have stopped for at least two days.

Airborne spread occurs during episodes of vomiting, to those in close proximity at the time.

Symptoms appear 12 to 48 hours after exposure to the virus and can last for up to three days.

The trust is also asking people with symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting not to go for treatment at the hospital's accident and emergency department, but to contact a GP or out- of-hours service for advice first of all.

Patients due to come into the hospital for an operation or appointment suffering from symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting are asked to phone ahead in advance to let the nursing staff know and to get further advice.