Flu, COVID-19 and RSV started surging in November and haven’t let up, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But an achy throat and cough aren’t the only symptoms to look out for.
Norovirus — which hits the digestive system — is spreading throughout the country.
It’s common for there to be outbreaks in the winter, says Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt infectious disease researcher. But this season seems especially bad.
“It looks as though we’re having a new variant of the norovirus on the scene,” he said. “And that may account for the fact that it’s spreading more readily this year than in some other years.”
He describes the infection like this.
“You feel fine,” he said. “And then a minute later, you experience explosive vomiting, and then, the vomiting continues. You get abdominal pain. You can have diarrhea, fever and just feel crummy for two or three days.”
He says the biggest threat with this virus is severe dehydration, a risk that’s worse in little ones and seniors.
Schaffner says certain groups are more likely to catch it.
“Populations that are enclosed, confined, such as cruise ships — it’s also known as the cruise ship virus,” he said. “Schools, prisons, nursing homes, senior citizens centers and the like.”
The Tennessee Health Department has a guide for health facilities that experience outbreaks. Among other things, it recommends using bleach solutions for disinfectant. It says to prioritize handwashing because alcohol-based hand sanitizers won’t be effective in killing the virus.
The virus can also spread through food. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning on several kinds of raw oysters — mostly from British Columbia in Canada and Washington state.
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