Cannock House Day Nursery in Bromley was closed as a precaution on 19 March after three children were hospitalised with diarrhoea. An Ofsted spokesman said, 'The Environmental Health Department has informed Ofsted that Cannock House Nursery is closed while it investigates an outbreak of salmonella.
Environmental Health and the HPA are investigating a number of possible causes and have closed the setting to prevent the spread of infection. In addition, Ofsted has suspended the registration while we carry out our investigation into the provider's compliance with the national standards.'
The HPA advised, 'The majority of cases of salmonella are sporadic, but outbreaks sometimes occur in certain environments. Transmission may occur through routes including ingestion of contaminated food or person-to-person spread. Symptoms include watery and sometimes bloody diarrhoea, abdominal pain, head- ache, nausea, vomiting or fever.'
The nursery's last Ofsted inspection was graded good overall, describing the environment as 'clean, welcoming and well-organised', adding 'all health and safety requirements are in place'.
For more information on salmonella see www.hpa.org.uk.