Visitors have been banned from Waterford Regional Hospital due to a suspected outbreak of the winter vomiting virus.
The ban was put into place on Friday afternoon, and has been reaffirmed today.
Exceptions may be given to families of critically ill patients, who ring the hospital ahead of time.
The HSE says 14 patients at the hospital are displaying symptoms of the winter vomiting virus, and some staff havealso been affected.
The winter vomiting virus, known as Noro or Short Round Structured Virus is prevalent in the community and is highly infectious.
It causes bouts of nausea followed by vomiting and/or diarrhoea.
It is usually quite mild and rarely causes severe problems; however, in people who are already sick, especially small children and older people, it can be debilitating and unpleasant.
