New Stomach Flu Strain Outbreak in U.S.

http://www.11alive.com/story/news/2015/10/13/new-stomach-flu-strain-has-atlanta-researchers-attention/73812336/

What is it? It is hitting schools and could spread to millions. Few people in the U.S. are immune to it, there is very little treatment and no vaccine.

Why is this one the poorest years in history for getting real numbers on cases and deaths from the regular news as well as .gov of stomach flu?  It is said that is only lasts 24 hours and otherwise only a few days. Why is that some people have had it for weeks and are still fighting it?

Amy Kirby is an expert on Norovirus at Atlanta based Emory University."Potentially we could see a big Norovirus here," said Kirby.

Kirby says that as she and her colleagues monitor a new strain that emerged in China during their stomach flu season last year.

It's a strain very few Americans if any have immunity to.

Medclinician - to be continued

FluMom wrote: Dang, bad news I had Noro virus last year now you telling me there is a new one...OH GREAT!

This has got to be the hardest thing I have ever tracked. There is one article which is verified on the net so far mentioning a mutated Chinese strain of the "Stomach Flu."

In an outbreak of this is in Last Vegas, there were over 1700 cases and they stopped counting with multiple school closures. The media doesn't have much. Still digging trying to track this - any help would be appreciated.

Medclinician

The possibility this stomach flu moving through multiple districts was caused by any food is very unlikely. It was spreading from school to school very rapidly sometimes a new school every day. This means it may possibly have become airborne.  Can Norovirus be airborne?

http://wwlp.com/2015/05/22/did-the-norovirus-go-airborne/

KARE) There’s a new perspective on an illness that affects a whole lot of people, the nasty norovirus.

New evidence suggests that it can spread through the air.

Every year, highly contagious noroviruses, which cause severe gastrointestinal distress, sicken people on cruise ships, in nursing homes, schools and more.

Until now, the thought has been that while the germs may be airborne briefly, they quickly settle on surfaces.

Now a new study in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases has found that they may be airborne much longer.

The study tested the air in eight health care facilities where there were outbreaks. In six of them, norovirus particles were found in the air in over half the patient rooms


Kirk Smith with the Minnesota Department of Health says, "This is actually the first study that I'm really aware of that shows the virus can kind of hang out in the air for any length of time."
video:

http://www.kare11.com/story/news/health/2015/05/19/noroviruses-may-spread-through-air/27604161/

comment: This has nothing at all to do with catching the disease from inhaling emesis particles. If this study can be duplicated and more data put together, it could change the way we deal with the spread and treatment of Norovirus. It was also found not only in the rooms, but in the area right outside the doors, as well as sometimes in the air at the nurse's stations.


Medclinician

http://www.nbc12.com/story/30379200/norovirus-on-the-rise-in-virginia

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - There's an illness that's rearing its head once again this year, the norovirus. It hit the Richmond area badly last winter, and, according to local doctors, it's back with a vengeance.
 
This month, there’s been at least three recorded norovirus outbreaks at schools and a nursing home in Virginia, according to the State Health Department, and numerous individuals were diagnosed at Patient First Medical Center on East Parham Rd. in Henrico alone. "Within the last week or two, I’ve seen an influx,” Patient First Medical Center’s Dr. Christopher Dietz said.

It's the same virus that shut down Farmville's Hampden-Sydney College for a week last winter and, around the same time, had this medical clinic struggling to keep up.

Medclinician

We got it here in southern Missouri.
My grandson and me are both sick.

http://www.kare11.com/story/news/health/2015/05/19/noroviruses-may-spread-through-air/27604161/

No one will touch this. The possible proof that Norovirus could become or has demonstrated itself to become airborne.

The study tested the air in eight health care facilities where there were outbreaks. In six of them, norovirus particles were found in the air in over half the patient rooms. Plus, Smith says, "They also found the virus in the air, in surprisingly high proportional samples, right outside the patient's room and at the nurses' station."

He says the study is small and more research is needed. But if there are similar findings, it could change the way we try to prevent the spread of noroviruses.

comment: for one thing,  in some reports they aren't even sure the new "stomach flu" is Norovirus. So, to rule out it being airborne seems to be jumping the gun. Also, where is the data on the respiratory component of this?  People in some areas are having a really bad cough.

Is this norovirus, a new mutation (as in the doctor at Atlanta was talking about a nasty bug from China which evolved last winter) or a new flu where people throw up as well.

Has anyone cultured or done a DNA on this strain? Yet?

Medclinician

FluMom wrote: If this is airborne we in schools are in BIG trouble!   My question is if you get it once do you get any immunity or do you just get it again?

One of the reasons there is no vaccine for Norovirus (if this is a type of it) is that there are so many different strains just like HIV - it is not possible at present to make one.   The data I put up here on airborne is fairly intense and yet its source if fairly solid. In fact, the researchers have encouraged other people since May 15th to conduct similar tests in the air surrounding the rooms and nurses stations where Norovirus patients are.

http://www.norovirus.com/norovirus-vaccine/

There are no current vaccines for Norovirus, the highly contagious virus that causes acute gastroenteritis, or sudden onset of vomiting and diarrhea. Infected individuals usually experience symptoms for a duration of one to three days and then get better. People infected with Norovirus are at risk of dehydration.  The illness can be particularly dangerous for children and elderly individuals. Approximately 21 million people contract Norovirus each year in the United States, and approximately 800 of those individuals die annually.

One of the reasons that Norovirus is particularly tricky to work with, is because there are many different strains of Norovirus. There are five types of Norovirus, but innumerable different forms of the virus. This means that you can contract Norovirus many different times throughout your life, even if you have had it before. This makes it difficult to create a vaccine that will target multiple forms of Norovirus.

comment: although tests have been done on some which may show promise, no vaccine is currently offered in the U.S. to prevent infection.

Medclinician