N.C. State students who are still fighting the flu may soon be facing another vicious virus – the stomach flu.
Not to be confused with influenza, a new strain of norovirus first identified in Australia last year has quickly made its way to North Carolina. As of last week, doctors had confirmed seven cases in the state.
Twenty-one million people get the stomach flu every year, and 800 people die from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But this year, due to mutation and the lack of a vaccine, no one is immune to it, and it is more contagious than ever. Because of this mutation, up to 50 percent more people could contract it.
Norovirus poses a unique threat because of its environmental persistence. While influenza is spread mainly through the air and survives on surfaces for only two to eight hours, norovirus can remain there for weeks, according to the CDC. That means if a student with norovirus uses a keyboard in the library and you use it a week later, you could become infected.
The CDC has reported that it takes less than 100 particles of norovirus to make a person ill, making this bug highly contagious. Comparatively, it takes more than a thousand particles of influenza. This makes residence halls, high traffic areas in the library and classrooms popular areas for the transmission of norovirus.
“I’m definitely worried,” Kristen Eguren, a junior in human biology, said. “The fact that it can stay in the environment for such a long time makes me want to wash my hands as often as possible.”
In fact, the N.C. Division of Public Health cites regular hand-washing with soap and water and cleaning of household surfaces with bleach as the most effective prevention methods. It also urges people to keep unwashed hands away from the face. Alcohol-based sanitizers do not kill the virus.
Unlike influenza, which mainly affects the upper respiratory tract, norovirus causes inflammation of the colon and stomach lining. This results in severe stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, according to the N.C. Division of Public Health.
Additionally, because norovirus is caused by a different virus than influenza, the CDC reports that it is possible to contract the two illnesses at the same time. The report carries extra weight as North Carolina lingers in a relatively strong flu season.
Muneeb Mustafa, a senior in supply-chain management, is all too familiar with the norovirus.
“Although it wasn’t the same strain as this year’s, I did get sick with the stomach flu last year. And it was treacherous,” Mustafa said. “For a whole week I vomited every day. Couldn’t really keep much food down and had fevers and shivers that would wake me up in the middle of the night. I was hoping that because I already got it once, I wouldn’t get it again. But it seems like this is a new strain, and so I very well could, unfortunately.”
If you do fall ill to norovirus, the N.C. Division of Public Health recommends avoiding contact with children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems. It also advises you to stay home and refrain from preparing food for others while you are sick, and for at least 48 hours afterward.
For more information about the norovirus and how to better protect yourself, visit www.cdc.gov/norovirus.
