Stomach Bug going around - heard of / had it ?

[KidKruger]

I've just had a hellish 2 days with a stomach condition which I don't need to describe in detail (as long as you can imagine it at the worse end of the scale).

The pharmacy said "there's a bug going around".

Did you have it / know someone who's had it ?

It's really harsh, if you get it - try and avoid passing it on to others, though you probably won't have the privilege to 'decide' to stay off work !

[Sue]

Sorry to hear that KK.

Er, what's the incubation period?? Yours started on Tuesday, yes?

[Ann]

We've had it I think. In my case it was like a normal case of 'upset tummy' but I was ill for a lot longer than usual.

[KidKruger]

Sue - started yesterday morning (had runs before work, made it to work, more runs there then extremely violent vomiting and a nightmare trip home, bed all day with breaks for more of same).

Worked from home today but none of the above, just exhausted from yesterday (feel like been kicked in guts) and rotten sleep.

So, I'll be at work tomorrow but delicate. Apols for the detail.

Ann - Only place I've had it this bad is India, so thankfully not normal for me here in UK. Way worse than I've had here. I'm blessed the worst part was a single day.

[Saffron]

Sounds like norovirus. It's been a particularly bad winter for norovirus. We all had it here last autumn. I had it twice. Lucky me.

[KidKruger]

saffron - noro, the pharmacist said something like Norus/Noro. Was it as bad for you/yours as I describe ?

[glasshalffull]

I had norovirus and the after affects for 4 weeks. The actual period of vomiting and diarrhoea was approx 2 weeks The doctor said this was an unusual but not unheard of length of time to be suffering. Without being too graphic there were times I was glad our sink was close to the toilet as both were called into action simultaneously. All I was able to eat during the 4 weeks was plain rice with carrots and the occasional luxury of chicken noodle cup a soup.

What shocked me was how weak I was left, it took 2 weeks for me to get close to feeling 'normal' again. If you are suffering from anything similar make sure you stay hydrated. Drink as much water as you can then some more.

[titch juicy]

Luckily for me it only seems to have been 24 hours and no vomiting. Nasty abdominal cramps, right through to my back and a couple of particularly violent 'episodes'. But a digestive biscuit and water diet and getting back on with it seems to have done the trick. Am very tired though.

[KidKruger]

Wow ! Not feeling so hard-done by now glasshalffull.

Perhaps I don't even have norovirus, given that description.

Yes, hydration is key, so easy to not do because your nausea brings everything back up.

I had one 'meal' (cornflakes, banana, milk) today, the first since Monday evening and have forced myself to drink water because based on my India sicknesses I learned it's the one thing you can't ignore.

[Voyageur]

Never had it - then again my stomach acid is legendary, will kill anything.

[UncleBen]

Oh lordy! Not picked up from the kids at the fest' fair. . .

[KidKruger]

Never thought I'd say it Voyageur , but... you got any of that acid ?

[Voyageur]

KidKruger Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Never thought I'd say it Voyageur , but... you

> got any of that acid ?

It has it's downsides - moderated by shed-loads of antacids - but if you have a nuclear grade receptacle I will oblige :)

[MrBen]

I had the norovirus once a year ago at Christmas. Best of all it hit me 1 hour into a BA flight to Calgary. I hope this never happens to any of you. From about Iceland onwards I was quarantined in my own toilet with a hastily scrawled sign outside. Four hours later above Nova Scotia, I finally came out and asked if I could lie down on the galley floor. The BA crew were from my hometown Edinburgh and made a huge fuss to mother me and upgraded me to a bed in business class.

The rest of biz class faces on their ?5k tickets looked rather pi$$ed off but feeling as I did I didn't give a flying toss.

Never again.

[Saffron]

glasshalffull Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I had norovirus and the after affects for 4 weeks.

> The actual period of vomiting and diarrhoea was

> approx 2 weeks The doctor said this was an unusual

> but not unheard of length of time to be suffering.

> Without being too graphic there were times I was

> glad our sink was close to the toilet as both were

> called into action simultaneously. All I was able

> to eat during the 4 weeks was plain rice with

> carrots and the occasional luxury of chicken

> noodle cup a soup.

>

> What shocked me was how weak I was left, it took 2

> weeks for me to get close to feeling 'normal'

> again. If you are suffering from anything similar

> make sure you stay hydrated. Drink as much water

> as you can then some more.

That sounds like you had a secondary bacterial infection, or that you were infected with two different strains of norovirus in quick succession. (Norovirus is generally a short-lived infection, 1-3 days.) However, even if you did have a 2ndry bacterial infections, the treatment would only be symptomatic (no antibiotics) unless the D&V were severe enough to hospilatise you, or continued for 2+ weeks. The BRAT diet is often recommened for this kind of illness.

[Saffron]

KidKruger Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> saffron - noro, the pharmacist said something like

> Norus/Noro. Was it as bad for you/yours as I

> describe ?

Norovirus sounds most likely by default, as it's known to have been a bad year for norovirus in Europe. It could also have been rotavirus, though this is less common in adults and associated more with diarhoea than vomitting. However, prolonged subclinical infections of rotavirus are associated with lingering symtopms in adults, whereas it tends to resolve more rapidly in children.

http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/Norovirus/GeneralInformation/norovFrequentlyaskedQuestions/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norovirus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotavirus

[Saffron]

Voyageur Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Never had it - then again my stomach acid is

> legendary, will kill anything.

You very likely could have had it, and didn't realise. It seems that very few people have immunity to the strain that was dominant this winter. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20982721

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20957763

One reason norovirus spreads so rapidly is that some infected people do not show symptons, or show only atypical symtoms. However, they may contribute to the spread of the virus precisely because they don't realise they are ill, so they continue going to work, socialising etc.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr6003a1.htm

...up to 30% of norovirus infections are asymptomatic, and asymptomatic persons can shed virus, albeit at lower titers than symptomatic persons.

[Saffron]

A short but interested video on the testing disease spread... check out the simulated vomitting model ~2.45 min into the video. Oh my! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20790061

[KidKruger]

"Noro Voyageur" !

ETA: as opposed to 'Typhoid Mary', in case you didn't 'get' it .

[uncleglen]

My daughter had a dodgy burger from a van in Spain and brought a bug home. I caught it and the worst part was the overwhelming nausea,then the stomach cramps then the dash to the loo. No vomiting though but I thought I had appendicitis. Starving myself and just having sips of water got rid of it in 48 hours.

[UncleBen]

A bug caught from 'street food'? Surely not UG?

[Saffron]

The duration of norovirus is only a couple of days anyway. It doesn't really matter what you do, just so long as you stay hydrated. The virus doesn't grow in contaminated food, but rather comes from infected individuals. Handwashing is the best defense against contagion, but as you can see from the video link (my previous post), viral particles can distribute rapidly across a large area. So it would be difficult to stay entirely free of viral particles in an area where they have been spread. xx

[ianr]

Household bleach solution seems to be an effective way of zapping the virus on surfaces. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norovirus#Prevention