KEY POINTS:
Two highly infectious organisms that closed wards at two Christchurch hospitals appear to be waning.
Health authorities closed wards at Christchurch Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital last month after an outbreak of the highly infectious norovirus.
Another ward at Princess Margaret Hospital was closed a week later after two patients and a staff member contracted the so-called superbug methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Almost 50 patients and staff had been affected by the outbreaks.
The MRSA outbreak prompted Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) to test all other staff and patients in the affected ward and treat them "proactively".
However, a CDHB spokeswoman told NZPA today both outbreaks appeared to be easing.
No wards at Christchurch Hospital were closed but eight patients with norovirus symptoms were isolated in a general ward.
Only two rooms at Princess Margaret Hospital were isolated -- one with a patient showing signs of norovirus and a room-mate with no symptoms, and another room with a patient who had been transferred from Christchurch Hospital and was being kept away from other patients as a precaution.
The spokeswoman said no further MRSA cases had been detected at Princess Margaret Hospital after thorough testing.
The gut-wrenching norovirus that causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea is spread through contaminated food and eating surfaces, and through contact with infected people.
MRSA, often found in the nose and skin of healthy people, is a bacteria that has become resistant to many antibiotics and can cause infections that are difficult to treat in people already unwell.
- NZPA
