Area hospital officials don’t anticipate lifting visitation restrictions to visitors under age 18 in the foreseeable future.

The restriction on visitors under age 18 went into effect earlier this month at all facilities affiliated with New Hanover Regional Medical Center and Brunswick Community Hospital help minimize the spread of H1N1 influenza.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that influenza activity, including that associated with H1N1 “swine” flu, was widespread in October in 41 states, including North Carolina.

“In order to protect our patients, we will keep the visitor restrictions for children under the age of 18 as long as necessary. We know this is hard on families who want to be together with their loved ones, but it’s an important step in controlling the spread of the virus,” New Hanover Regional spokeswoman Carolyn Fisher said.

The under-18 visitation restriction includes all New Hanover Regional Medical Center locations, including the Betty H. Cameron Women’s & Children’s Hospital, Rehabilitation Hospital, Behavioral Health Hospital, Cape Fear Hospital and Pender Memorial Hospital.

The CDC reports that young children are at high risk of serious complications from both H1N1 and seasonal flu. People in the age 65 and older age group are the least likely to be infected with H1N1, but if they do get sick, they are also at high risk of developing serious complications.

Hospital officials said visitation restrictions for other age groups are currently not under consideration.

“We have no other visitation restrictions planned. We are monitoring the virus’ effects in the community very closely and will do what we can to protect our patients’ health,” Fisher said.

At Novant Health’s Brunswick Community Hospital, the under-18 restriction went into effect on Oct. 1. Officials there said it will remain in place for at least several months.

“At this point, children are the only group that has been discussed in this light. We would reassess it as time goes on. If the instance of flu in the area decreases, it will be evaluated on an ongoing basis,” said Angie Fisher, Brunswick Community’s director of clinical improvement.

No figures were immediately available for confirmed cases of H1N1 seen at Brunswick Community Hospital in recent months. Fisher said that between April and late October, 13 confirmed cases of H1N1 were seen at New Hanover Regional Medical Center. Seasonal flu cases are also on the rise.

“We have seen a marked increase in the number of people presenting with flu-like symptoms at some of our physician practices as well as the ER. It seems like we’re seeing a real increase,” Brunswick Community Hospital’s Fisher said.

The under-18 restriction has been adopted at other hospitals throughout the Novant Health system, along with hospitals across the country. Rates of infection among children and adolescents are of particular concern to healthcare professionals.

“We’re seeing that children and adolescents are more susceptible to H1N1 flu and are often contagious before they exhibit symptoms. We have a responsibility to protect our patients by limiting their risk as much as possible,” Dr. Sam Spicer, vice president of medical affairs at New Hanover Regional, said in a prepared statement.
“We understand how hard this is for some families who want to have those children visit a new sibling or loved one in the hospital,” Spicer said. “We wouldn’t take this step if it weren’t necessary to control the spread of the virus.”