By Leigh Jones

The Daily News  

Published November 3, 2009

Starting Monday, children 12 years old and younger no longer will be allowed to visit family and friends in John Sealy Hospital, a policy designed to slow the spread of the swine flu. 

The University of Texas Medical Branch is the third hospital in Galveston County to issue new visitation policies in response to the H1N1 epidemic. 

Officials at Christus St. John in Webster and Clear Lake Regional adopted policies banning children last week. Officials with Mainland Medical are considering a ban but have not decided what the age limit should be, Kris Muller, marketing specialist with hospital operations company HCA Houston, said. 

Other hospitals in the region have adopted similar policies for young children, who are both susceptible to and are common carriers of the flu virus. 

The ban at Clear Lake Regional extends to 16-year-olds but is limited to the oncology, prenatal, pediatrics and pediatric intensive care units, Muller said. 

All hospitals still treat children with flu-like symptoms. 

Protecting Patients 

The new visitation policy has not been popular at Christus St. John, where children 12 or younger are prohibited, especially among families with new babies who want siblings to come visit, hospital Chief Operating Officer Nancy Pittman said. 

Officials make exceptions in some cases, and the policy probably hasn’t been enforced as widely as it should be, Pittman said. 

“We are trying to limit that, but of course there are exceptional cases where parents or loved ones are terminally ill,” she said. 

Officials at the medical branch hope families will be thankful the hospital is taking steps to protect them and their family members, Dr. Steve Quach, interim chief medical officer, said. 

“Obviously, there will be some inconvenience involved, but we need to protect our patients,” he said. 

Although adult visitors still are allowed at John Sealy, they will be screened at entrances and asked to leave if they exhibit any flu-like symptoms, Quach said. 

Patients with flu symptoms, which include runny nose, sore throat and fever, are required to wear masks to protect other patients, doctors and nurses. 

Local Cases Mild 

President Barack Obama declared swine flu outbreak a national emergency on Oct. 23, allowing hospitals to set up temporary emergency rooms away from other treatment facilities to prevent the disease’s spread. 

Hospitals in other parts of Texas have set up flu treatment clinics outside their regular emergency rooms, but none in Galveston County has had to take such extreme measures. 

While the infection rate among medical branch patients is similar to those in other parts of the country, most cases are mild and primarily involve children, Quach said. 

Of the 851 flu cases confirmed in Galveston County since August, 99 were confirmed to be swine flu.  

Although about 3,000 people have died nationwide from the swine flu, only one Galveston County resident has died.  

Renacia Scott, 31, of Galveston, died Oct. 20, four days after being treated at the medical branch for the flu and a secondary infection of viral pneumonia. 

The Galveston County Health District administered 5,000 free swine flu vaccines at Mall of the Mainland this weekend.  

Officials had to turn away hundreds of people who were waiting in line. 

The swine flu vaccine is taking longer to make than health officials hoped.  

Shortages nationwide are common.