100 people hit by vomiting bug
An outbreak control team is dealing with and investigating the latest infections.
The SHB has appealed to people to stay away from the hospitals as far as possible and to limit visitors to next of kin only.
Twelve patients and 16 staff at St Columbanus Home, Killarney, an 82-bed care unit for the elderly, and one patient in the nearby Killarney Community Hospital are in isolation.
Two Killarney hotels have also been hit 49 people in one and 20 in the other though no new cases were reported yesterday.
The SHB declined the name the hotels, saying the hotels were themselves victims as the bug had been brought in by other people.
A board spokesperson warned that the bug was still very much alive in the wider community.
Since mid-August the SHB has received reports of clusters of cases gastric illness in Cork and Kerry.
"Gastric 'flu is recognised as an increasing problem in the holiday industry and in tourist resorts where people come and go all the time," said a board spokesperson.
"While the outbreaks involve the community at large, they have proven difficult to control in premises where people live, temporarily or long term," the spokesperson said.
In a hotel situation, a guest, or someone else, brings in the virus which is then passed from person to person and from persons to items such as handrails, wall curtains and toilets.
Public health doctors and environmental health officers are working with the tourist industry and tour operators to implement internationally-recognised best practice procedures for the control of the bug.
The elderly are most vulnerable to the bug which can lead to severe dehydration. It's a highly infectious bug which is spread through direct contact with vomit or diarrhoea from someone who is ill, especially if personal hygiene is not good, from the air around a person who has vomited and from contaminated food.
People are urged to be scrupulous about hygiene, especially after using the toilet and before preparing food.
