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Re: QE2 Docks In S.F. With Massive Norovirus Outbreak
Dr Paul Cieslak the infections disease specialist in the Oregon Public Health department, was quoted in todays Oregonian as saying using a gel hand sanitizer was inadequate for insuring the virus could not be transmitted to others. Frequent hand washing was better at limiting the viral spread.
Please do not ask me for medical advice, I am not a medical doctor.
Avatar is a painting by Alan Pollack, titled, "Plague". I'm sure it was an accident that the plague girl happened to look almost like my twin.
Thank you,
Shannon Bennett
Re: QE2 Docks In S.F. With Massive Norovirus Outbreak
Dr Paul Cieslak the infections disease specialist in the Oregon Public Health department, was quoted in todays Oregonian as saying using a gel hand sanitizer was inadequate for insuring the virus could not be transmitted to others. Frequent hand washing was better at limiting the viral spread.
Please do not ask me for medical advice, I am not a medical doctor.
Avatar is a painting by Alan Pollack, titled, "Plague". I'm sure it was an accident that the plague girl happened to look almost like my twin.
Thank you,
Shannon Bennett
Re: Flu outbreak closes three schools in North Carolina
Norovirus afflicts N.C., University
Rebecca Wu
Posted: 2/19/07
Within the last week, hospitals in North Carolina have seen an outbreak in the highly contagious norovirus, also known as the "winter vomiting illness."
Jean Hanson, administrative director of the Duke Student Health Center, wrote in an e-mail that 22 students with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea have come to Student Health since Feb. 5.
The Durham VA Medical Center has restricted access to visitors, and many other hospitals in the area have taken preventive measures.
"We're trying to protect the community," said Hal Hummel, public affairs officer for the Durham VA Medical Center. "We're monitoring the virus all day, every day, and when we reach a point when we feel it is no longer a public health concern, then we will get back to normal operations. That could be tomorrow or the next day. We really don't know."
Symptoms of the norovirus include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever. Hummel estimated that among the Durham VA Medical Center's staff and patients, there were 25 to 50 people diagnosed with the virus.
"The thing that makes it more difficult is that there's regular generic stuff going on as well and you can't tell from the outside if it's just regular nausea and vomiting," Hanson said. "The test to determine [the norovirus] costs over $300 so we're not routinely testing for it. The treatment is the same and prevention is the same."
Treatment of the virus involves keeping patients hydrated orally or intravenously, she added.
Freshman Andrea Pretorian, who was diagnosed with the norovirus two weeks ago, wrote in an e-mail that there were at least two other Duke students in the emergency room at the same time she was.
"I started feeling nauseous, and it progressively worsened to the point where I spent the whole night alternating between bathroom runs and passing out in my room," she said. "It must have been at least 20 times. In the morning, I woke up on the floor, with no idea of how I got there, and when I tried to stand up, the whole room was spinning really fast around me."
The norovirus is like the common cold in that it is very easy to pass on and very easy to get, said Sharon Evans, infection control practitioner for the Duke University Medical Center. "If people are having symptoms of nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, they need to wash their hands with soap and water," she said. "Alcohol hand sanitizers are not going to help."
Evans added that portable hand-washing stations have been set up around the Durham VA Medical Center and the Duke Hospital.
The norovirus has seen higher rates all across the nation, particularly in North Carolina, said Dr. Deverick Anderson, instructor of medicine in infectious diseases.
"Norovirus is a very tough little guy. It likes to hang around and stay alive on doorknobs," Hummel said. "It stays alive and infectious for a few days. In a lot of cases, viruses only last a few minutes to a few hours on a surface where they may be transmittable."
According to the National Center for Infectious Diseases, most people get better within one to two days and have no long-term health effects related to the virus.
"It's been about two weeks since I first had the norovirus, and I'm still not fully recovered," Pretorian said. "For about a week I had to stick to the BRAT diet-bananas, rice, applesauce, toast. What was most frustrating about this virus is the time it takes to recover. When you feel like throwing up, can barely eat and have a constant headache and fatigue, it's really hard to get anything done."
Almost 150 students and teachers in a middle school affiliated to Hunan Normal University in central China's Hunan Province were sickened by the norovirus or "stomach flu", officials with the provincial health department said yesterday.
The patients, which include 145 students, two teachers and two other staff members at the school, are being treated at the Fourth Hospital in Changsha, capital of the province, according to the department.
The hospital has organized a team of 19 doctors to provide treatment to the patients, sources with the department said.
The first norovirus infection at the school occurred on March 6, when a 16-year-old girl suffered symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea and nausea, according to the provincial disease prevention and control center.
The school, which has 5,225 students and more than 400 teachers and staff, has stopped supplying water from water coolers and tap water. The school has also cleaned the water boilers, pipes and pools, and is disinfecting buildings and the school environment on a regular basis.
The local disease prevention and control authority is investigating the source of infection.
The norovirus is one of the most common gastrointestinal viruses affecting humans. Its symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal cramps. Symptoms usually appear within 24 to 48 hours of exposure, and typically last for one to three days.
In the fall of 2006, there were massive outbreaks of norovirus infections in Japan, Singapore and Italy, with 357,600 people contracting the virus in less than two months.
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