The Detroit Medical Center is implementing new patient visitation guidelines to combat the rise of flu cases in the metro Detroit area.
Visitors under the age of 12 will be not be allowed to visit inpatient and observation rooms and only two visitors will be allowed at a time. Any visitor with a sore throat, runny nose, muscle aches, fever, cough, sneezing or chills will not be allowed to visit.
The temporary guidelines will remain in effect through flu season. Exceptions could be made in special circumstances only.
Hospital patients, younger children and senior citizens are particularly susceptible to catching and spreading the flu, according to Dr. Teena Chopra, Corporate Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology, DMC Harper University Hospital.
“One of the challenges in fighting flu is that the virus can spread very easily,” Chopra said. “However, every step we can take to ensure the spread of flu is kept to a minimum is a step in the right direction in the fight against the flu.”