If you’re sick, be sure to stay home and avoid serving and preparing food for others, Ostrosky cautions, emphasizing the importance of paid sick leave-particularly for food workers, in the case of a pathogen like norovirus. Such labeling informs consumers that products kill norovirus, a notoriously difficult task, he advises. So ditch the hand sanitizer in favor of actually washing your hands, she advises.Īlhassani recommends choosing household cleaners that promise to kill 99.9% of viruses. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers don’t work well on some viruses, including norovirus. Alice Pong, clinical medical director of infectious diseases at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, advises adults to be extra diligent about washing their hands before they eat-and to have their kids do the same. The best advice, experts tell Fortune: Wash your hands frequently and stay away from others who are sick.ĭr. “We’re out and about sharing germs with each other again.”įebruary is a typical time for norovirus to take off, Schaffner adds, and “it’s really taking advantage of our having gotten together for the first time in several years.” How can you best protect yourself and your family from norovirus? “Remember, we’re basically going from almost no cases of anything to a bunch of cases of something,” be it RSV or flu earlier this winter, or norovirus now, Benjamin advises. We’ll all be experiencing infectious diseases more frequently, now that pandemic restrictions have been universally lifted, experts caution-at least for the near future. While affected oysters were recalled nationally, it may still be driving cases. outbreak of norovirus linked to raw oysters, Ostrosky says. The current rise in cases could be linked to a recent U.S. The service has seen a five-fold increase in visits for “stomach bug” symptoms since December, he notes. “We are starting to see a little bit higher activity than usual, and a little bit on the early side, too,” Alhassani says, adding that the virus is on the uptick and perhaps approaching a peak in the U.S.Īlhassani is the head of clinical at Summer Health, a subscription-based pediatrics service accessible via text message in all 50 states. Ali Alhassani, a pediatrician at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, tells Fortune. The virus typically makes waves from November through March, Dr. Norovirus is a common winter virus, though it’s also known to circulate via gatherings at other times of the year, like at spring or summer weddings or cruises. If you think you’re severely dehydrated or that someone you’re caring for is, call your healthcare provider, the CDC advises. If you’re caring for a child with norovirus, watch for signs of dehydration, including crying few or no tears and being unusually sleepy or fussy. You should be sure, however, to keep hydrated, to replace fluids lost from vomiting and diarrhea. Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment for the illness.
Because norovirus can cause repeated vomiting and diarrhea, “the biggest risk is getting very dehydrated,” Benjamin advises-especially among the young, elderly, and those with other medical conditions. Symptoms usually occur within 12 to 48 hours of exposure, and last for one to three days.
Luis Ostrosky, an infectious diseases specialist at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, tells Fortune.Īccording to the CDC, common symptoms include: “In general, norovirus is very violent and inconvenient,” Dr. What’s more, if you’re near someone who is projectile vomiting, “you can actually be infected via aerosols,” Schaffner adds. “That’s the main reason it’s so infectious.” Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, tells Fortune. “It doesn’t take a lot to get people pretty sick,” Dr. Ali Alhassani, head of clinical at Summer Health and a pediatrician at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, tells Fortune.īecause the virus is primarily passed through particles of feces invisible to the naked eye, it’s easy to unknowingly spread and contract the disease-if, for example, you don’t wash your hands well after using the restroom or changing a baby’s diaper. It takes a very small amount of virus to get sick-so miniscule a microscope can’t always detect it, Dr. You can also get it by touching a contaminated surface like a doorknob or light switch, then touching your mouth Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
You can catch it by consuming contaminated food or water, and it’s the leading cause of foodborne illness in the U.S., according to the U.S. The illness usually moves from person to person via “fecal-oral” transmission.
0 kommentar(er)
