New virus more contagious, spreads more quickly than most [View all]

[KansDem]

Posted: Dec 30, 2013 1:20 PM CST
Updated: Dec 30, 2013 3:36 PM CST
By Stephanie Frazier

There's a relatively new virus in the U.S., and it's getting a lot of notice from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to the CDC, norovirus causes your stomach and intestines to become inflamed, giving you stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. This can, in turn, lead to dehydration and, possibly, the need for hospitalization. In fact, each year, noroviruses cause about 70,000 hospitalizations and 800 deaths, mostly in young children and the elderly, according to Dr. Aron Hall, an epidemiologist at the CDC specializing in norovirus.

A new strain of norovirus is called GII.4 Sydney norovirus; it was identified in March 2012 in Australia. It is especially easily spread, as the majority of Americans don't yet have an immunity to it, and it takes fewer particles of this virus to make you very sick. According to ABC medical contributor Dr. Richard Besser, it takes 1,000 particles of flu virus to make a person sick; however, it only takes 18 particles of the Sydney strain of norovirus to infect a person. Besser also said that this strain can cause you to become ill within just a few hours of exposure, leading researchers and doctors to nickname it the "Ferrari of viruses."

In the U.S, it is now accounting for about 60 percent of all norovirus outbreaks, according to the CDC. As with most viruses, it is most severe in older adults and children, and others with compromised immune systems.

--more, including how to prevent and control the spread of the virus-- KLTV

This tip from the article jumped out at me, "Do not prepare food for others if you are sick." Again, we need a solid sick-leave policy for restaurant workers in this country!