Doctors fear vomiting bug outbreak (Norwalk Virus: London Alert)

The Evening Standard (London) ^ | 3 Jan 2003 | Maxine Frith Health

[duckman]

Looking at pictures of Helen Thomas has the same affect on me.

[Snowy]

Oh you poor people. It sounds horrible. It must be very evil if it can come back after a few days!

[usmom]

Just be sure it is a light-colored popsicle! Several years ago when my 17 month old daughter was sick, a friend recommended this, so I went out and bought a pack. Knowing her favorite was cherry, and desperate to get her to eat anything, I gave her one. Fifteen minutes later we had a HUGE bright red stain on our white carpeting in the middle of the family room and all over a chair. We tried everything to get it out and finally ended up calling a professional, who had a very hard time with it himself. Now I only give light or colorless foods/liquids to my kids when they are sick.

[RnMomof7]

Alot of younger parents use pedilite..it has some electrolytes in it I think..it causes the BM to be green..(it is clear) I think I would try freezing it and see it the kid would suck on it

[exhaustedmomma]

Pedialyte is a brand name for a fluid known as oral rehydration therapy (ORT). Along with other brands like Infalyte, Naturalyte and Rehydralyte, it is a simple mixture of water, salts and carbohydrates to prevent dehydration in children with bouts of diarrhea and vomiting. Children under 5 are especially vulnerable to diarrhea because their bodies are small. It doesn't take much fluid loss to get their electrolytes out of balance.

The AAP guidelines are:
· For diarrhea with no dehydration, feed the child normally and give supplemental commercial rehydration fluids within four to six hours after a diarrheal episode. If the diarrhea persists, call the child's doctor.
· For diarrhea with mild dehydration, take the child to a physician. The child should be given oral rehydration fluids in the doctor's office, with food and rehydration fluid continued at home.
· For moderate or severe dehydration, the child should be treated in a health-care facility. Moderate dehydration may be treated orally, but severe dehydration requires intravenous fluids.

The old advice to let the intestine "rest" after a bout with diarrhea is now not recommended by AAP. "Early feeding isn't just a good idea, it helps to make the diarrhea better," says Snyder.
Food can help the intestine absorb more water, which helps slow down the diarrhea. A child should eat as soon as possible after a bout of diarrhea, and at least within six hours. A balanced diet rich in calories is recommended. Foods such as rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, corn, and chicken have all been proven helpful in slowing diarrhea. Just about anything the child tolerates is OK, except for foods high in sugar or salt.
Milk products, because they can be difficult to digest, can be withheld for 24 to 48 hours during significant bouts of diarrhea. Infants who are bottle-fed, however, should continue drinking formula diluted to half strength. Breast-fed infants should continue nursing.
The once favored "BRAT" diet--an acronym for bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast--is no longer recommended for children. Instead, parents should offer a more balanced diet that is higher in calories.
Giving anti-diarrhea medicine to children is not the best treatment, according to John Udall, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of pediatric nutrition and gastroenterology at the Children's Hospital in New Orleans.
"Diarrhea is really a purging of the intestine," he says. "Giving medicines to slow down the intestine actually gives the bacteria more time to grow, which prolongs the illness."
Preventing Dehydration in Children: http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/696_kids.html

I have a masters degree in Nutrition and Dietitics. We were taught to give clear liquid diet as tolerated, followed by balnd diet. We were also taught to avoid wheat products for the first 24 to 48 hours... which means chicken and rice soup vs chicken noodle soup. Hope this helps.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

This puking bug seems to be hitting SE Pennsylvania. We went to a Christmas party where three of the 8 couples couldn't make it because of puking. Has anyone else noticed this?

Yep. Several members of my family (from MA, NH, and RI) had it over Christmas.

[CedarDave]

It helps to have the throne next to the tub.

[Ol' Sox]

Yes. And plastic buckets hung around the necks of the kids, too.

[NEPA]

I just mentioned your post to my husband. He wants to know if you went to college (he puked a lot in college).

Yes I went to college (U of Scranton) and this was worse than too much to drink vomiting.

I drank gatorade and ginger ale the next day. It seemed to help.

[Domestic Church]

This puking bug seems to be hitting SE Pennsylvania.

It nearly killed one of my kids at the end of October...as it tends to resolve into a chest cold eventually but she came down with the vomiting and the chest congestion and went into pneumonia within a couple of hours and then triggered a severe asthma attack in the Dupont Hospital ER that would have done her in had we not just arrived.

Unfortunately it did kill my mother in law in her nursing home right before Christmas. This is a very, very dangerous tummy virus.

[Domestic Church]

I think it is airborne and from what I saw in our household it has about a 10 day incubation.

[Domestic Church]

There was a family in my kids school that went on a cruise ship back in October.

[Domestic Church]

Get ginger ale, gator aid, and get someone(who has had it already) with you when you are sick with it!

[k2blader]

Sorry to hear it reached your household! I pray you and yours are recuperated?

[rolling_stone]

An old family doctor recommended a few spoonfuls of clear Kayro syrup mixed in water..when the flu bug bites....

[Domestic Church]

My younger ones spiked a high fever and then threw up for about 6-8 hours, slept for 4 hours and then settled down to nursing flat ginger ale, pepsi and coolaid/gatoraid and it just seemed like the typical bug but they are hale and hardy. My oldest is more frail and gets even a regular cold worse than the others but never had anything like this before and never had asthma. I'm amazed I didn't get it except for a little queasiness while I was in the hospital with my kid...all the adrenaline I pumped getting there in a foggy downpour must have pushed it out of my system(after being up all night previously with another one tossing cookies.) We are all hibernating now.

[UKCajun]

Perhaps these outbreaks are test runs (no pun intended) for the best way to deploy something really deadly.

Those are my thoughts exactly.

Even the CDC and infectious disease docs are indicating the spread of this Norwalk virus (cruise ships, troops in Afghanistan, hospitals, etc.) is unlike anything they have ever seen.

Very worrisome and highly suspicious.

[Diana Rose]

Do you have the WHO formula for the ORT? I have looked for it on the web and have found the formula but it is in grams and I am an non metic kind if girl. ;)

[exhaustedmomma]

I looked for a nonmetric version and couldn't find one. I am giving you formula to convert, plus some other links with good info.

1 kilo = 2.2046 lbs (1 kilo = 1000 grams) Therefore to change grams to pounds multiply the grams by 0.0022046
If you don't need to be so exact, round this number down to 0.0022
To convert Pounds to Grams, multiply by 453.6
To convert Grams to Pounds, multiple by .002205
Weight
1 gram = .035 ounce
100 grams = 3.5 ounces
500 grams = 1.10 pounds
1 kilogram = 2.205 pounds
1 kilogram = 35 oz.
To convert Multiply by Result
grams .0353 ounces
kilograms 2.2050 pounds

Conversion Table

Oral rehydration therapy and early refeeding in the management of childhood gastroenteritis--->scroll down to the flow chart!

Carbohydrates and Electrolytes (Systemic): Some commonly used brand names, description, use, dosing, and side effect info found here.

Rehydration Project

[ladyinred]

We have that and some other kind of virus out here in California. I have had the other version for 5 weeks now and can't get completely rid of it! Several people I know are battling the same thing and it just keeps coming back when you think you are getting well. Strange stuff.