Posted on 01/07/2003 10:16:46 AM PST by snippy_about_it
BOSTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A stomach virus blamed for sickening cruise ship passengers in recent months was reported Tuesday at near epidemic levels in the Boston area.
Health officials said many hospital emergency rooms in the region have been swamped with people complaining of severe symptoms of the Norwalk virus, a contagious microbe.
"We have about 700 cases" in the Boston area, said John Auerbach, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission. It is almost at "an epidemic level," he said.
Health officials fear the illness is even more widespread in the general public because most individual cases are not reported.
The outbreak "seems more severe than any in the last five to 10 years," according to Dr. Stephen Kruskall of the Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick, Mass.
The virus, which is characterized by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps, typically lasts a day or two, but those could be "the worst 48 hours of their life," Auerbach told the Boston Globe.
Those stricken are advised to drink clear liquids.
Dr. Anita Barry of the Boston Public Health Commission said there has been a "pretty unusual" outbreak of the virus in area nursing homes and hospitals.
At least 17 separate outbreaks have been investigated, including at one nursing home where 186 people fell ill.
The virus is easily passed from person to person, such as through a handshake, but officials say the danger of infection could be reduced if people washed their hands after using the bathroom.
The virus got its name from the city of Norwalk, Ohio, where it was identified some three decades ago. While unpleasant, it rarely causes death or serious illness. The elderly or those already seriously ill are the most at risk, officials said.
I'm curious if anybody has any theories on if our immune system is getting to be less and less effective over time due to various reasons and if this is another sign. We really don't seem as hardy as our ancestors.
I think a lot is that we have become truly soft and whine a lot more, but I also believe that the overuse of drugs and antibiotics has caused many of us to not develop the natural immunities by making our bodies fight off the bugs that it is capable of fighting. I know people who get antibiotics at the first sign of a sniffle. God help them if they really get sick and the drugs effectiveness is lessened from all the overuse.
More people died in the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918-19 than both World Wars. +675k died in the US alone and an estimated 20 to 100 million died world-wide.
jriemer
Yah. I'd also recommend that people not lick their fur, either...
It may seem anal (no pun intended), but I've been known to use a paper towel to open bathroom doors. In addition to door handles faucets should be foot-pedal operated, or auto-shutoff, so that you don't have to touch ANY contaminated surface after washing your hands. It won't prevent all infections, but it seems to me like it would cut them down significantly.
I got some basic information on Norwalk symptoms and causes here.
CD
Our ancestors died at a much younger age. I read a statement in Discover Magazine that for 99.0% of the time that there have been humans, 18 years was the average life span. We are presently living in the best time ever in human history.
That's why I use the towel that I dried my hands with to open the door.
This was probably brought on by people viewing the large anti-handgun billboard outside Fenway.
Can't figure out why vandals haven't wreaked havoc on that piece of crap.....yet.
Ah, nice to see I'm not the only one. Though I too often forget to do this (but I NEVER forget to wash my hands -- it's like wearing a seatbelt, I don't feel right if I don't do so).
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