NoroVirus

NoroVirus

News: At least two cases of norovirus have been found in Thiruvananthapuram among lower primary school students.

About:
• Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that is also sometimes referred to as the ‘stomach flu’ or the ‘winter vomiting bug’.
• It can be transmitted through contaminated food, water, and surfaces. The primary route is oral-faecal. It is similar to diarrhoea-inducing rotavirus and infects people across age groups. One may get infected multiple times as the virus has different strains.

Symptoms:
• The initial symptoms of norovirus are vomiting and/or diarrhoea, which show up one or two days after exposure to the virus.
• Patients also feel nauseous, and suffer from abdominal pain, fever, headaches and body aches. In extreme cases, loss of fluids could lead to dehydration.
• Norovirus infection is associated with intestinal inflammation, malnutrition and may cause long-term morbidity.
• Diagnosis is done by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.

Preventive Measures:
• No vaccines are available for the disease.
• The basic precaution is repeatedly washing hands with soap after using the lavatory or changing diapers. It is important to wash hands carefully before eating or preparing food.
• During outbreaks, surfaces must be disinfected with a solution of hypochlorite at 5,000 parts per million.
• Those infected should avoid contact with others and avoid preparing food for others while sick and for two days after symptoms stop.
• Norovirus is resistant to many disinfectants and can withstand heat up to 60°C. Therefore, merely steaming food or chlorinating water does not kill the virus. The virus can also survive many common hand sanitisers.

Is there any treatment available?
• The disease is self-limiting. The infection normally lasts only two or three days, and most individuals who are not very young, very old, or malnourished can ride it out with sufficient rest and hydration.
• It is important to maintain hydration in the acute phase. In extreme cases, patients have to be administered rehydration fluids intravenously.