A highly infectious and debilitating virus has struck at two more Sussex hospitals.

Two wards at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and four at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath are not taking any new patients until the infection has been cleared.

The bug is known as the Norovirus or winter vomiting virus and causes diarrhoea and nausea.

It is not life-threatening but can leave already-vulnerable people feeling weak and passes from person to person very quickly.

Closing the wards has put added pressure on staff at both hospitals who are already struggling to cope with the post-Christmas and New Year demand.

The Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust infection control team is working to contain the outbreak.

This includes deep-cleaning each ward and urging visitors and patients to use hand gels regularly to reduce the risk of infection spreading.

The bug can be caught outside hospital as well and managers are asking people who may be feeling unwell to stay away until they have been symptom-free for two days.

Trust chief executive Peter Coles told a board meeting yesterday the outbreak was being brought under control.

He said: "We are not the only hospital to have been affected by this but we believe the virus is now on the way out. However, it has obviously affected our ability to admit pataients, which puts an added pressure in other parts of the hospitals.

"We are hopeful we will be able to reopen the wards shortly."

Eastbourne District General Hospital, Crawley Hospital, Worthing Hospital and Southlands Hospital in Shoreham have all had outbreaks of the virus this year.

Worthing and Southlands were forced to temporarily shut five wards recently to stop the spread of the bug.

Generally people recover completely and in most cases there are no serious side effects.

There is no specific treatment for the illness other than ensuring the patient has enough liquid.