Medical News - Norovirus Infections Rising Feb 19, 2023 1 year, 10 months, 3 days, 13 hours, 27 minutes ago
The U.S CDC has issues warnings that norovirus infections are rising across the United States and urged people to take more safety precautions including frequent washing of hands, proper handling of foods, etc.
https://www.cdc.gov/surveillance/nrevss/norovirus/natl-trend.html
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Norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea. The resulting highly transmissible gastrointestinal illness also known as the stomach flu.
Typically, individuals become infected with norovirus by the following ways:
-consuming food or liquids contaminated by an infected person.
-eating uncooked shellfish that has been harvested from contaminated waters.
- touching contaminated surfaces or objects and then touching their mouth or eating without washing their hands first.
Norovirus causes an acute illness that commonly lasts 1 to 2 days for most people, although some people may be ill or feel the effects for up to 6 days. After the period of illness your body gradually gets rid of the entire virus. Norovirus is not known to create a long term 'carrier' state in a person.
Diarrhea, stomach pain and vomiting typically begin 12 to 48 hours after exposure. Norovirus infection symptoms usually last 1 to 3 days. Most people recover completely without treatment.
Other accompanying symptoms can include headaches, chills, slight fevers, muscle pain and fatigue.
However, norovirus can be very serious among young children, the elderly, and people with other illnesses, and can lead to severe dehydration, hospitalization, and even death.
Those infected are advised to drink lots of water and also take electrolytes.
Fever-reducing medications (such as paracetamol) and anti-nausea medications may help relieve symptoms. If symptoms become severe or you are concerned, seek medical help.
To date, there's no specific treatment for norovirus infection. Recovery generally depends on the health of your immune system. In most people, the illness usually resolves within a few days. It's important to replace lost fluids. However, I am sure that American pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna along with the U.S. NIH will soon recommended mRNA shots to deal with the virus and the U.S government will use tax payers’ monies once again to fund the development and studies and also to buy stocks for the masses and maybe even make it mandatory!
Direct hand-washing rather than alcohol-based hand sanitizers are highly recommended as hand sanitizers don’t actually kill the virus as well as direct hand-washing.
One needs to wash their hands with soap and water for 20 seconds to stop norovirus from spreading.
Wash fruit and vegetables well. Also thoroughly cook shellfish and other seafoods to an internal temperature of at least 62°C (steam cooking may not heat it enough to kill the norovirus).
It is also highly recommended to disinfect high-touch surfaces if you are infected or are with someone else who
is sick. Norovirus can survive on surfaces for long periods of time, is relatively resistant to freezing and heat, and is not easily killed by alcohol, which is a common ingredient in household disinfectant wipes.
In order to eradicate the virus, one needs disinfection products with a norovirus label. Bleach-based cleaner is great for disinfecting high-touch surfaces like areas in the bathroom that could be contaminated by vomit or diarrhea.
According to U.S CDC, there were 225 norovirus outbreaks reported to the CDC between Aug. 1, 2022, and Jan. 8, 2023, compared to 172 outbreaks during the same period the previous season.
The U.S. CDC tracks norovirus outbreaks via a network of 14 state health departments. Although the network’s data lags, its most recent tally suggests state health departments reported 25 outbreaks as of the first week of January, the most since May. Between August and early January, a total of 225 norovirus outbreaks were reported to the CDC, compared to 172 during the same period last season.
However, since late January till now, more new outbreaks are being reported and the CDC is concerned about the exponential rise in caseloads of norovirus infections.
The highest rate of positive tests is in the Midwest.
Case of norovirus infections are also rising in England where infections rates are 66% higher than the average over the five seasons before the COVID pandemic according to data from the UK Health Security Agency.
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-ukhsa-reports-an-unusual-sudden-surge-of-norovirus-infections-in-the-united-kingdom-covid-19-induced-immunodeficiency-at-play
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-norovirus-and-rotavirus-surveillance-reports-2022-to-2023-season/national-norovirus-and-rotavirus-report-week-6-report-data-up-to-week-4-29-january-2023
The biggest rise in positive cases is in people 65 and older unlike the United States where it was predominantly children.
As reported by Thailand
Medical News, norovirus infections also started rising in the Canada since mid-December 2022.
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/canada-medical-news-shortage-of-pediatric-icu-beds-due-to-an-onslaught-by-various-pathogens-sars-cov-2,-rsv,-influenza,-norovirus,-strep-a,-rotavirus
As of now, cases are still rising in Toronto as reported by Canadian media.
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-sees-increase-in-norovirus-activity-compared-to-pandemic-years-1.6278889
Even Australia has reported a surge of norovirus infections since late January 2023.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/22/loss-of-immunity-due-to-lockdowns-behind-spike-in-nsw-gastro-cases-diseases-expert-suggests
Strangely enough, Norovirus outbreaks and rise in caseloads seems to be occurring in only certain Western countries but no such outbreaks have been reported in Asia or South America so far.
For the latest on
Norovirus keep on logging to Thailand
Medical News.
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