MEDICS are on alert after it emerged that five hospitals in East Lancashire have been hit by a winter vomiting bug.

Health bosses had revealed that the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General Hospitals were hit by the norovirus virus.

Now it has been confirmed that Accrington Victoria, Pendle Community and Clitheroe Community hospitals have also been affected.

Pendle Ward at Clitheroe Community Hospital, the only one of the five run by NHS East Lancashire, has seen six patients and one member of staff affected. The problem there is said to be ongoing.

The ward was closed to admissions and discharges to residential homes have been stopped.

Virus control teams have also been called in at Pendle Community Hospital, Leeds Road, Nelson, where two wards have been hit.

Reedyford Ward was reopened after another deep-cleaning exercise but four patients are still thought to be affected on Marsden Ward.

The first outbreak, lasting eight days, came at the end of November at Accrington Victoria Hospital’s Ward 2. Eleven patients and two staff were affected.

Three staff shifts were lost and the number of days that beds were blocked rose significantly for the month.

Deep-cleaning was carried out on the ward, which was reopened on December 30.

Another unit, ward 12 at Burnley General Hospital, was closed in December after six patients fell victim to the sickness virus. Several wards were also affected at the Royal Blackburn Hospital in December.

Beverley Aspin, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust’s lead matron for infection prevention and control, said: “We continue to keep a close eye on all of our patients for signs and symptoms of winter vomiting viruses, however minor.

“We remain cautious, closing areas at early signs of vomiting or diarrhoea, so that spread of any gastric virus is minimised.”

She said that Reedyford Ward at Pendle was closed to new admissions as were four-bed bays in wards C1, C6 and B8 at Royal Blackburn.

Noroviruses are the most common cause of upset stomach in the UK. They spreads easily, which means outbreaks are common, particularly within contained environments such as hospitals, nursing homes and schools.