The New Norovirus Hitting Harder
What is making the new norovirus to hit harder people harder this year? It is named GII.4 Gil.4 arrived first in Australian last year and then the UK where is sickened over a million people. It is now in the United States. It can cause severe gastrointenstinal problems, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps.
Other types of viruses usually require ingesting hundreds or thousands of particles of the virus to get sick. This new norovirus takes less than 20 norovirus particles to get hit with the illness. You can acrually catch this norovirus from a toilet seat! It can survive temperatures up to 140 degrees. You can have the virus before you have the symptoms which makes it even easier to be spread.
This new norovirus is harder to kill too. It will take 24-48 hours to get through your system. You must be careful not to become dehydrated from this virus. There is no known treatment or vaccine for this virus.
How Can You Catch This New Norovirus?
- Person to person- through inhaling the virus or virus being on contamined surfaces.
- Foodborne – Foods prepared by food handlers who may not know they yet have the virus.
- Waterborn - Well water that becomes contaminated from septic tank leakage and/or sewage or from breakdowns in chlorination of municipal water systems.
What Can You Do To Prevent Getting This New Norovirus?
It’s the Basics!
- Wash your hands properly – Long enough to count slowly for 20 seconds.
- Wash your fruits and vegetables before eating and cook food thoroughly.
- If you feel sick do NOT prepare food for others to avoid spreading your germs.
- Clean and disinfect all areas around you that may harbor the norovirus germs as they can live on toilet seats.
- Wash your laundry immediately if you or a loved one feels sick – preferably in hot water if possible and using rubber gloves to avoid catching the germs.
Who Is At Most Risk For This New Norovirus?
- Infants and young children.
- The elderly.
- Those with compromised immune systems.
Have you or anyone you known been sick from the new norovirus this year?
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I wonder if I can use this excuse “If you feel sick do NOT prepare food for others to avoid spreading your germs.” so I don’t have to cook for the hubs.
Scary sickness. Hope I don’t get it! Eeek!
Bren recently posted..YOU on the Web
We like your thinking
Let us know how that works for you. That’s a tough one if people don’t know they are sick and are in the food industry. We can see how that would spread fast.