Thursday, November 24, 2016

House of Charity working to stop viral outbreak

The House of Charity in Spokane, a Catholic charity house provides meals, clothing, and shelter to the underserved population of homeless, transient, and poor men and women in the Spokane area, and accepts anyone in any condition as part of its mission.

On Nov. 13, there was an outbreak of norovirus at the House of Charity, which caused inflammation of the stomach and/or intestines.  Other symptoms of norovirus include stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea, fever, headache and body aches, and usually go after a few days. Even though it is a non-life threatening virus, the facility worked diligently to stop the virus from spreading further. A large group of staff volunteers sanitized as best as they could.

Guests who were infected were treated with medicine and fluids, while 160 guests who were not infected were quarantined outside the facility in tents. A local emergency doctor anticipated that the virus would subside within the next couple of days.

Rob McCann, Director of the House of Charity, urges the public to help the homeless population in hopes of stopping outbreaks like these from happening. The work of the House of Charity is very inspiring, and this is a great reminder that viral outbreaks can occur anywhere at anytime and we need to work together to play our part in preventing outbreaks.

Emily Nguyen


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