Mumps risk prompts visitor restrictions at Bathurst hospital
Extended-care unit off limits to public as patients undergo testing
Visitors will not be permitted at the extended-care unit of the Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst, N.B., while health officials test patients for the mumps virus.
The extended-care unit is where elderly people are kept while they wait for placement in a nursing home.
Yves Laurendeau, the director of medical imaging for Vitalité Health Network, said the visitor restrictions were implemented following recommendations by public health authorities in order to avoid a possible spread of the mumps virus.
"It's a contagious problem, so that's why we closed the unit to avoid spreading of this sickness," he said.
Laurendeau couldn't say how many people have tested positive for the mumps.
Other areas of hospital open
He said other areas of the hospital remain open to visitors. He said the extended-care unit would be reopened to visitors when there is no risk to the public, but he could not speculate on when that would be.
Signs of mumps include puffy cheeks and a swollen jaw caused by swelling in the salivary glands. Common symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue and loss of appetite, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Symptoms can appear two to three weeks after infection, and most people fully recover within seven to 10 days.