Flu Leads Prisma to Restrict Some Visitation Beginning Tuesday
Observer Reports
Prisma Health’s decision to restrict young visitors amid rising flu and measles activity will affect families across Anderson and the broader Upstate starting next week, when Prisma will bar visitors age 15 and younger from its hospitals beginning Tuesday, citing increased rates of influenza and other respiratory illnesses in the community. The temporary policy applies across the system, including Prisma Health–Upstate facilities that serve Anderson-area patients, and is aimed at protecting hospitalized patients and staff from infection.
Hospital officials said the move comes during higher-than-normal flu activity in South Carolina and Tennessee and amid an ongoing measles outbreak centered in the Upstate region. As of Dec. 23, the S.C. Department of Public Health reported 159 measles cases tied to the Upstate outbreak, underscoring concerns about vulnerable hospital patients.
Exceptions to the age restriction may be granted in limited cases, such as when a patient is near the end of life, according to Prisma Health’s Department of Infection Prevention. Adults who feel sick are urged not to visit, and all visitors are recommended to wear masks to help reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses inside hospital units.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates this flu season has already caused at least 4.6 million illnesses, 49,000 hospitalizations and 1,900 deaths nationwide, prompting renewed vaccination calls. CDC officials recommend flu shots for everyone 6 months and older, with particular emphasis on young children, older adults, pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions.
Because the measles outbreak remains active in South Carolina, Prisma Health is asking patients who come to its S.C. hospital emergency departments to mask until they are evaluated by a nurse. Prisma officials also encourage residents with flu-like symptoms to seek prompt in-person or virtual care through the system’s urgent care network, which operates daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and can be accessed at prismahealthurgentcare.org.
