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.
Absolutely right, I believe! Last time I had one of these kind of bugs was in 1979, and I've experienced no stomach and/or intestinal problems of any type since then. I'm by no means a "clean freak", have never used an antibacterial soap, don't obsess about public bathroom conditions or touching commonly used items or surfaces, and I work in an environment where people come to work sick a lot (because we're not paid if someone else must substitute for us) and we are frequently in much closer proximity with our co-workers than the distance between typical office desks or cubicles.
The household I grew up in was one where everyone (myself at the time being no exception) would get at least two incidents of either cold, flu or "stomach bug" annually, and for everyone remaining in my family, from what they tell me, this is still pretty much the norm. Only differences between their lives and mine currently seem to be our diets and our responses to minor illnesses/injuries/discomforts when they do occur. They're all big meat eaters, and I, while not a vegetarian, eat fresh fruits and vegetables daily, but have meat only once in ten days or so. Also, for the most part, they're the sort of folks who will go for a pill to alleviate anything from a headache to a sprained toe, and I never use pharmaceutical medicines, not even the over-the-counter ones most typically taken for granted. I find that a cold, for example, on the rare occasion when I get one, lasts a much shorter time without "help" from drugs.
I think there's a lot to be said for keeping one's immune system strong. Mine seems to be stronger than most people's.
Or sometimes my shirt or sweater is long enough to use on the handle. I try not to touch handrails with my hands, but just rest my elbow a little in case I lose my balance. But even with constant hand washing I was sick on New Year's Eve and New Year's day.
I know you think that now. There is no way my 11-yr-old will go into the women's room now, though. It's been a couple of years since he has gone in with me. I try to make sure the men's room is pretty empty and I wait outside the door. He is LOUD and I have put the fear of the psycholooney into him, so I feel pretty safe.
My 5-yr-old stays with me, of course, and so will the mini-freeper on the way, as long as I can manage it.
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