Recently, the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a reminder: September to March of the following year is the peak period of norovirus infection in our province, and it is more likely that norovirus infection will break out after various schools start school.

What is norovirus?

Norovirus (NoV), also known as Norwalk virus, belongs to the calicivirus family and is an enterovirus, which is the main pathogen of sporadic cases and outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. Norovirus infectious diarrhea belongs to infectious diarrhea except cholera, dysentery and typhoid fever.

trait

Norovirus has strong infectivity, low infection dose, strong tolerance, rapid mutation and short immune protection time, and the whole population is generally susceptible.

susceptible population

The whole population is generally susceptible, including children (especially under 5 years old), the elderly, immunocompromised people and organ transplant patients. It is easy to cause epidemics in communities, schools, kindergartens and other collective units.

living environment

Norovirus is very resistant to the environment. Norovirus can survive for 2 weeks on the surface of objects and more than 2 months in water at the temperature range of 0 ~ 60℃. Alcohol and hands-free disinfectant/venom have no inactivation effect, but norovirus can be inactivated by using chlorine-containing disinfectant/venom with higher concentration.

Transmission routing

The epidemic may spread in many ways, including interpersonal transmission, food-borne transmission and water-borne transmission.

Symptomatic manifestation

People infected with norovirus can cause acute gastroenteritis, and symptoms usually appear 12-48 hours after ingestion of the virus. Generally speaking, the main clinical manifestations are:

The main symptoms are vomiting and diarrhea; Followed by nausea, abdominal pain, chills and so on. May be accompanied by fever, headache, muscle pain, fatigue and loss of appetite;

In severe cases, dehydration symptoms will occur. Vomiting is common in children and diarrhea is common in adults. The course of disease lasts 2-3 days, but the elderly and patients with basic diseases recover slowly.

What should I do after infection?

At present, there are no specific antiviral drugs and vaccines for prevention. Vomiting and diarrhea mainly rely on symptomatic treatment or supportive therapy.

1, daily care

Eat more fresh and digestible foods with high calcium content, drink more water, eat less fatty foods, eat less raw and cold foods, and keep warm?

Step 2 prevent dehydration

Although most diseases can recover by themselves, the doctor reminds you! ! ! Dehydration is the main cause of death from Norovirus-infected diarrhea. For severe cases, especially young children and infirm people, timely infusion or oral rehydration should be given to treat symptoms such as dehydration, acidosis and electrolyte disorder.

3. Nutrition therapy

The principle of nutritional treatment for diarrhea is to adjust diet, stop eating high-fat and indigestible foods, reduce gastrointestinal burden, gradually restore digestive function and avoid abusing antibiotics.

During the period of infection with norovirus, you should pay attention to the following manifestations and seek medical advice in time:

1, severe vomiting, unable to eat, taking oral rehydration;

2, persistent abdominal pain, not relieved after rest;

3. The stool is sticky, accompanied by pus or blood, and the smell is abnormal;

4, repeated fever, body temperature over 38.5℃, can not effectively cool down after taking antipyretics;

5, dehydration symptoms, such as chapped lips, yellow urine, less urine, poor skin elasticity, sunken eyes and so on.

Preventive measures in family life:

1, exercise and improve body resistance.

2, pay attention to personal hygiene, wash your hands frequently, to prevent the infection of virus pathogens. Be sure to wash your hands with hand sanitizer/soap after defecation and before eating, blowing your nose or touching raw food, and rub your hands for at least 10 seconds to ensure that the germs are washed away.

3. Don't eat raw and uncooked food, reduce going out, eat in unlicensed street shops, eat less shellfish, and thoroughly wash raw fruits.

4, popular season, less crowded public places, put an end to infection channels, reduce the chance of infection.

5. Patients with diarrhea at home should be actively treated and properly isolated.

6. The vomit, drinking water and related pollutants of patients or suspected patients should be disinfected in time to eliminate pathogens.