What Type Of Stomach Virus Is Going Around

So Youre Feeling Terrible But Why Knowing The Reason For Your Upset Stomach Is The First Step To Feeling Better A Nurse Explains The Difference Between Food Poisoning And A Stomach Bug

Its a question no one ever wants to have to ask: Is this food poisoning or a stomach bug? Your stomachs starting to feel uneasy, but where did it come from? Either way, food poisoning and stomach bugs are miserable at best and dangerous at worst.

Both types of upset stomach can feel similar, but they have a few key differences to help you know what is going on, and more importantly, when youre going to get some relief.

Most Common Stomach Bug

About 60% of all stomach flu cases in the United States are due to norovirus. That comes out to around 21 million norovirus infections each year.

Viruses that cause stomach bugs are extremely contagious and easily passed from person to person. Methods of transmission include:

• Direct contact with a sick person
• Aerosolized particles from vomit
• Consuming contaminated food and water
• Fecal-oral route

Symptoms may last for just a day or two, or they may continue for more than a week.

What Is The Cause Of Stomach Virus

Norovirus: This is the main cause. This represents a family of viruses. Rotavirus: This is a viral infection. This is common in babies and young kids. Viral stomach infections are contagious. It is easy to get and give a stomach virus. It is spread by contact with an infected person, surface or object.

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Comparing Stomach Flu And Food Poisoning

Lets look at this table that compares and contrasts stomach flu with food poisoning:

Overall, food poisoning happens much faster than stomach flu, and resolves faster too. With food poisoning, the toxins are already in the food. Bacteria consumes the food and makes the toxins long before you eat it. The toxin starts working as soon as it is absorbed in your stomach.

On the other hand, the stomach flu virus doesnt spoil the food. Food will taste, smell, and feel normal when you eat it. The virus is not active until it gets inside your body. It needs time to invade your cells and use your protein to multiply its genetic material.

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Early Increases In Flu Activity Sweep The Us

An early increase in seasonal flu activity has been reported in most of the United States, with the nations southeast and south-central areas reporting the highest levels of flu, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than a thousand patients have been hospitalized with flu this week, the agency said.

Nationally, the percentage of specimens testing positive for influenza in clinical laboratories is increasing however, activity varies by region, CDC researchers wrote in the agencys latest weekly flu report, published Friday.

While current influenza activity is still overall low, the CDCs report finds that activity is increasing in most of the country, with three jurisdictions experiencing moderate activity and six jurisdictions experiencing high or very high activity.

This week, 3.3% of respiratory specimens sent to clinical labs tested positive for influenza, according to the new report. That is a jump from the 0.1% of specimens that tested positive this time last year, and the 0.2% of specimens that tested positive this time in 2020.

However, the new data suggest the nation might be returning to pre-Covid levels of flu, as around this time in 2019, 3.1% of specimens were reported as testing positive for flu.

The new CDC report also said that 1,322 patients were admitted to hospitals with influenza this week and there were three deaths in children this week associated with influenza.

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Norovirus Spreads Very Easily And Quickly In Different Ways

You can get norovirus by accidentally getting tiny particles of feces or vomit from an infected person in your mouth.

This can happen if you

• eat food or drink liquids that are contaminated with norovirus,
• touch surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus and then put your fingers in your mouth, or
• have direct contact with someone who is infected with norovirus, such as by caring for them or sharing food or eating utensils with them.

If you get norovirus illness, you can shed billions of norovirus particles that you cant see without a microscope. Only a few norovirus particles can make other people sick. You are most contagious

• when you have symptoms of norovirus illness, especially vomiting, and
• during the first few days after you recover from norovirus illness.

However, studies have shown that you can still spread norovirus for two weeks or more after you feel better.

Norovirus can easily contaminate food and water because it only takes a very small amount of virus particles to make you sick. Food and water can get contaminated with norovirus in many ways, including when:

What Are The Symptoms Of Norovirus Infection

Norovirus illness usually begins 24 48 hours after exposure, but can appear as early as 10 hours after exposure. Symptoms usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramping. Sometimes people have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness. The illness is usually brief, with symptoms lasting only 1 or 2 days.

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Can Norovirus Infections Be Prevented

You can decrease your chances of becoming infected with norovirus by:

• Frequent hand washing with warm water and soap
• Promptly disinfecting contaminated surfaces with household chlorine bleach-based cleaners
• Washing soiled clothing and linens
• Avoiding food or water from sources that may be contaminated
• Cooking oysters completely to kill the virus

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Information For Healthcare Providers

Individual cases of norovirus infection are not required to be reported to the New Mexico Department of Health. However, norovirus outbreaks do require reporting under the suspected foodborne illness in two or more unrelated persons.

It is important in outbreaks to determine whether the cause is norovirus or from another source such as a bacterial infection. Many clinical and public health laboratories have the capability to test human specimens for norovirus. The New Mexico Department of Health Scientific Laboratory Division uses real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction allowing for grouping of norovirus at the genetic level . The New Mexico Department of Health recommends at least 3-5 samples of either feces and/or vomitus be collected and submitted to the SLD for testing. It also is important to test for other pathogens, including salmonella, shigella, and other bacteria causing similar illness. If you suspect an outbreak, the New Mexico Department of Health can assist with laboratory testing and preventing further illness. Call the Reporting & Surveillance hotline at 505-827-0006 to report possible outbreaks and/or request assistance.

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What You Can Do

If you think you have norovirus, Traylor said the best thing you can do is get tested for COVID-19 because both begin with gastrointestinal symptoms.

If your COVID test is negative, doctors can give you medicine to help deal with symptoms. However, the best cure for norovirus is time. Most people recover within three days.

Norovirus And Stomach Bugs Outbreak: Symptoms And What Nhs Says To Do

People suffered from norovirus like symptoms at a recent lego event in Bristol as the 2019 UK outbreak continues

A nasty stomach bug is dropping people like dominoes across the South West recently.

Dozens of reports are coming in of an outbreak in a nasty illness that is very similar to the highly contagious norovirus throughout November and into December.

Cases have been reported across the UK, including at a huge lego event here in Bristol.

Read More

In response Public Health England and the NHS advise people who believe they are ill to contain themselves and follow strict hygiene procedures.

People have reported projectile vomiting, diarrhea, and suffering aches, pains and headaches.

Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water

• especially after using the toilet or changing diapers,
• always before eating, preparing, or handling food, and
• before giving yourself or someone else medicine.

Norovirus can be found in your vomit or feces even before you start feeling sick. The virus can also stay in your feces for two weeks or more after you feel better. It is important to continue washing your hands often during this time.

You can use hand sanitizers in addition to hand washing, but you should not use hand sanitizer as a substitute for washing your hands with warm water and soap. Handwashing is always best.

Hand sanitizers arent as effective as washing hands with water and soap at removing norovirus particles. See Handwashing: Clean Hands Save Lives.

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Handle And Prepare Food Safely

Carefully wash fruits and vegetables before preparing and eating them. Cook oysters and other shellfish thoroughly before eating them.

Be aware that noroviruses are relatively resistant to heat. They can survive temperatures as high as 145°F. Quick steaming processes that are often used for cooking shellfish may not heat foods sufficiently to kill noroviruses.

Food that might be contaminated with norovirus should be thrown out.

Keep sick infants and children out of areas where food is being handled and prepared.

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Nutrition Fluids And Food

These can ease gastroenteritis symptoms. It may be hard to hold food down, but you can get fluids, calories, vital minerals , and nutrition from fruit juice, sports drinks, caffeine-free soft drinks, or broth. When you feel ready to try solid food, start with bland things like rice, potatoes, bread, applesauce, or bananas. Avoid fatty or sugary foods, dairy, caffeine, and alcohol until youâre better. They may make you feel worse.

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Virus With A Difference

But since the early 2000s, researchers have noted a sustained spread of avian flu among wild birds. Over the past year, this transmission has increased drastically. The disease also seems to be spreading to mammals more frequently. These unprecedented patterns of transmission mean that something is quite different about this virus this go around, says Rebecca Poulson, a wildlife-disease researcher at the University of Georgia in Athens.

The situation is especially unusual for North America. An HPAI strain has been detected in wild birds there only once before, between 2014 and 2016, after wild birds spread the disease from Eurasia to Alaska. That outbreak led to the deaths of more than 50 million domestic birds in the United States alone, at a cost of US$3 billion. But then the virus seemed to sort of vanish, says Andy Ramey, a wildlife geneticist at the US Geological Survey Alaska Science Center in Anchorage.

Flu on the farm

Poulson says it was inevitable that wild birds would carry an HPAI strain to North America again one day. It was going to happen, she says. And it just happened to be now.

Coronavirus Disease : Similarities And Differences Between Covid

English version updated 30 September 2021 COVID-19 and influenza are both infectious respiratory diseases, and they share some similar symptoms. However, they are caused by different viruses, and there are some differences in who is most vulnerable to severe disease. There are also differences in how the diseases are treated. It is important to know the difference between COVID-19 and influenza to better protect yourself. This Q& A will help you know the facts about COVID-19 and influenza and make informed decisions about your health.

1. COVID-19 and influenza are both respiratory diseases.

Both viruses share similar symptoms, including cough, runny nose, sore throat, fever, headache and fatigue. People may have varying levels of illness with both COVID-19 and influenza. Some may have no symptoms, mild symptoms or severe disease. Both influenza and COVID-19 can be fatal.

2. COVID-19 and influenza spread in similar ways.

Both COVID-19 and influenza are spread by droplets and aerosols when an infected person coughs, sneezes, speaks, sings or breathes. The droplets and aerosols can land in the eyes, nose or mouth of people who are nearby typically within 1 metre of the infected person, but sometimes even further away. People can also get infected with both COVID-19 and influenza by touching contaminated surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth without cleaning their hands.

4. The same protective measures are effective against COVID-19 and influenza.

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How Can I Avoid Noroviruses

• Wash hands with soap and water often, especially after using the bathroom or changing diapers and before preparing or eating food.
• Remind children to wash their hands after using the bathroom and before eating. This is especially important while they are ill.
• Immediately clean up vomit and stool and anything they touch:
• Disinfect surfaces with a germ-killing cleaner .
• Wash clothing in hot soapy water.
• Throw away cleaning rags in sealed plastic bags.
• Always wash your hands after cleaning.

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How To Prevent And Treat A Norovirus Infection

If you think you have symptoms of a possible infection, rest and drink plenty of fluids. Antibiotics cannot help because the infection is viral antibiotics only work on bacterial infections. Most importantly, avoid contact with other people and make sure to wash your hands often.

Also clean any dirty clothes, making sure to handle soiled items with care. Do not prepare food for others and disinfect any contaminated surfaces with bleach. You are contagious from the moment you start feeling sick to the first few days after you recover. If you suspect an outbreak in your community, you should also contact your state or local health department.

Dr. Tiffany Truong is a resident physician in internal medicine in Houston and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

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What Causes The Stomach Bug

Several different viruses may cause the stomach bug. Viruses that most frequently cause it include norovirus, rotavirus, and adenovirus.

The norovirus alone causes up to 21 million cases of the stomach bug in the United States each year. Other viruses such as astroviruses can also cause this condition.

Stomach bug caused by a rotavirus or norovirus infection is highly contagious. In the United States, infection most commonly occurs between October and April. The most common way to contract the virus is from direct contact with someone who is sick.

You can also contract the virus from contact with something someone infected has touched that contains their stool, saliva, or vomit substance with the virus in it.

How Long Does Stomach Flu Last: Know The Facts

Stomach flu is a very common problem in society these days. The virus is very easily transmitted into the body and affects our stomach as these organs are very sensitive, thus what we eat and how that food was made matters. Right in 2020 stomach viruses like NOROVIRUS and INFLUENZA -A are hitting all around the globe. The world has been going through this common disease present in many forms of viruses and bacterias. Stomach flu is said to be very common and easily infectable as these viruses and bacterias are commonly around and yet ignored.

We need to know about stomach flu and stomach viruses to prevent and treat it in better ways, than actually ignoring our bowel conditions leading to major illnesses.

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Weird Stomach Virus That Isnt Covid Making Everyone Sick Or Have Diarrhoea

I had the worst stomach pain of my life for a week, honestly felt like Id been stabbed with molten steel

If a new variant of Covid-19 wasnt enough to worry Londoners, some people are now reporting a new weird stomach virus going around that makes you poo and vomit.

Omicrons grip on the capital city has caused Covid cases to rocket in recent weeks, but it looks like there might be another virus joining the party.

Taking to Reddit, many Londoners have reported horrendous diarrhoea and vomiting.

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One Londoner asked: Any Londoners had this stomach virus going around?

Had pure watery diarrhoea for nearly a week, every time I eat I end up on the loo.

In reply, another said: Ive had this. It was the worst the world was literally flying out my a**e whilst I was being sick into the sink, I would not recommend it at all.

In response, the original poster said: Just literally diarrhoea like pure water, like turning a tap on, mainly every time after Ive eaten. Felt a bit achy too.

Another user described their Christmas illness: Started on Christmas Eve. Woke up feeling sick. Initially I thought I was hungover .

Had a McDs breakfast on Xmas Eve. Still felt nauseous all day.

Urgent Advice: Get Advice From 111 Now If:

• youre worried about a baby under 12 months
• your child stops breast or bottle feeding while theyre ill
• a child under 5 years has signs of dehydration such as fewer wet nappies
• you or your child still have signs of dehydration after using oral rehydration sachets
• you or your child keep being sick and cannot keep fluid down
• you or your child have bloody diarrhoea or bleeding from the bottom
• you or your child have diarrhoea for more than 7 days or vomiting for more than 2 days

111 will tell you what to do. They can arrange a phone call from a nurse or doctor if you need one.

Go to 111.nhs.uk or call 111.

A GP may be able to help you.

Ask a GP surgery for an urgent appointment.

Check with the GP surgery before going in. A GP may speak to you on the phone.

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