Norovirus Outbreak Warning In The UK: All You Need To Know About The Vomiting Bug

Norovirus outbreak in the UK: The United Kingdom had just eased the COVID-19 restrictions for its people and now the nation is grappling with an outbreak of norovirus. Public health experts in England have warned about an increase in the number of cases of norovirus, which is also known as the vomiting bug and it known to infect all age groups.

Official data shows that the highly infectious virus is far more widespread than previously expected and causes vomiting and diarrhoea. Norovirus was first reported in May and since then 154 cases of the disease have been recorded across England, according to PHE. The health body, which calls it a "winter vomiting bug", said that it has been spreading particularly rapidly over the past few weeks among preschool children in nurseries and childcare facilities, who are bringing the virus home. Reportedly, the infection is normally associated with the winter months, but the cases are currently higher than usual, hence the warning of the new outbreak in the UK.

Experts believe that the cases have been at lower levels than normal throughout the pandemic with less opportunity to spread between people in the community but "as restrictions have eased we have seen an increase in cases across all age groups,” said Prof Saheer Gharbia, the deputy director of PHE’s national infection service. Rates of the norovirus doubled from 105 to 236 between 31 May and 4 July, with two-thirds (65 percent) in nurseries or schools and a third (30 percent) in care homes.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of norovirus infection are diarrhoea,  projectile vomiting, nausea and stomach pain. Like COVID-19, this disease too can be asymptomatic in some people, however, it mutates rapidly and different strains of the new infection have been found circulating around the same hospital during one season. Due to the symptoms, an aerosol full of viruses can spread around any room and including surfaces.

Precautions 

Since the spread of norovirus is very similar to the way other viruses enter our body, the measures and precautions to be taken are also similar to what we take to keep other viral infections at bay. The UK health body advices people to wash hands often, rinse fruits and vegetables before eating and stay home when sick for two days at least.

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