Norovirus Prevention Guide

Recently, the Norovirus has quietly attacked! So what are the characteristics of the Norovirus and how to prevent it? Let's learn about it together.

Understanding Norovirus

Norovirus is a general term for viruses of the genus Norovirus in the family Caliciviridae. It is a single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus without an envelope on its surface.

Norovirus mutates quickly and immunity protection lasts only a short time. New variants that cause global epidemics can appear every few years. The same person can be repeatedly infected with the same strain or different types of norovirus.

Characteristics of Norovirus

Norovirus is highly contagious, has a low infection dose, a long detoxification time, a rapid mutation rate, a short immune protection time, and general susceptibility in the population. This makes it easy for Norovirus infections to occur in places where people gather, such as schools, homes, hospitals, communities, kindergartens, and tourist areas.

Norovirus transmission

Norovirus can be spread through contaminated water, food, objects, air, etc. For example, eating or drinking food or water contaminated by norovirus, touching objects or surfaces contaminated by norovirus with hands and then touching the mouth, etc. The same person can be repeatedly infected with the same strain or different types of norovirus.

Main symptoms of norovirus infection

Norovirus is mainly mild, with sudden onset, and vomiting or diarrhea of ​​varying severity as the main manifestations. Vomiting or diarrhea may occur alone, or vomiting first and then diarrhea. Children mainly have vomiting symptoms, and diarrhea is yellow and watery stools, which may be accompanied by low fever, fatigue, abdominal pain, headache, muscle aches, etc. It is usually not a severe disease, but dehydration may occur.

How to prevent norovirus infection?

Image source: Pixabay

1. Wash your hands frequently with soap and running water before and after meals.

2. Do not drink raw water, wash and peel fruits and vegetables before eating them raw, and thoroughly heat and cook meat and seafood before eating.

3. Keep the environment clean and disinfect regularly; strengthen ventilation and maintain effective convection.

4. Handle pollutants in a timely and standardized manner. If someone around you is vomiting or having diarrhea, you should wear plastic gloves and a mask, and use chlorine-containing disinfectants to disinfect the environment and objects contaminated by vomit or feces.

5. If someone around vomits, other people should stay away from the vomit. Ask teachers or parents to properly handle and disinfect it. Children are not allowed to participate in the handling of pollutants.

6. Once infected with the norovirus, you are not allowed to go to school while sick. You can only return to school 72 hours after symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea disappear.

Source: Chongqing Banan District Second People's Hospital

Audit experts: Zhang Ling, Jin Gang

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