What Are The Ways To Prevent Norovirus Infection & Does It Reoccur?

Norovirus infection generally referred to as the ‘stomach flu’, is an illness in which an individual suffers a short-term infection of the abdomen and/or bowels. This infection precedes to diarrhea and nausea, as well as difficulties from these conditions, such as acute stomach pain, dehydration, and exhaustion.

An individual with norovirus is extremely contagious from when their warning sign begins until 48 hours after all their signs have ceased, while they may also be contagious for a brief period before and after this.

But how can you prevent catching the most contagious norovirus?

Practice Proper Hand Hygiene: The best way to prevent the spread of foodborne noroviruses is to practice good nutrition processing. Decent hand sanitization and cooking maintenance are essential to avoid spreading the infection. It may sound simple however, it is one of the most effective ways to prevent norovirus especially when you are around crowded areas. If you are caring for someone with norovirus, rinse your hands every single moment you come into contact with them. Lather your hands thoroughly with soap and scrub for at least thirty seconds, and don’t rely on alcohol hand gels, as they do not kill the virus.⁽¹⁾

Handle And Prepare Food Safely: Adhering to secure food processing and culinary habits at home can help avoid foodborne infection. In every step of food preparation, follow certain safety tips to keep your food safe from contamination

• Wash and clean the surfaces before using the food items. Rinse surface well with tidy clothes drenched in clean water.
• Do not cross contaminate the surfaces which often leads to infections
• Cook the ingredients properly with the right temperature
• If you need to preserve for a certain period refrigerate promptly.
• Wash your hands before and after you handle foodstuff or appliances, particularly unprocessed beef, pork, chicken, fish, or eggs.⁽²⁾

Don’t Hand wash Dishes: Based on a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hand-washed utensils are likely to carry the virus. The infectious virus can live for an extended period than on would imagine on exteriors. For this purpose, start-up the dish-washer while you have the illness, and in the times later as contradicted to hand-cleaning them.

Wash Laundry Thoroughly: Norovirus is hard to get rid of; light cleaning will not help. For infected clothes, you’ll also require putting in a few bleaches and throw the washer on the hottest water cycle.^(3,4)

The warning signs and symptoms of this stomach flu are persistent, and the disease itself can be challenging to exterminate from your home. As noroviruses go through chromosomal variations at every instance, individuals are likely getting diseased more than once throughout their lives. In general, if you have recurring illnesses, warning signs are not as much worse every occasion.

During some instances, it can be mild and resolves on its own however in worst cases, it can be acute and lead to severe complications. In the norovirus patients, viral shedding may last several weeks to several months even after recovery when you have underlying health complications.

In general, anybody can get affected by norovirus, and you can get infected more than once. Medical studies have proven evidence that an individual will get this infection almost five times throughout their life cycle.

If you have symptoms or have been diagnosed with norovirus do everyone a favor and stay home for a few days (and keep the kids’ home from school).^(5,6)

References:

Also Read:

• Coping Methods For Norovirus Infection
• What Is The Best Treatment For Norovirus Infection?
• What Leads To Norovirus Infection & Can It Be Cured?
• Lifestyle Changes For Norovirus Infection
• How To Diagnose Norovirus Infection & What Is The Best Medicine For It?
• Is Norovirus Infection A Serious Problem & Can It Be Reversed?
• What Is The Prognosis For Norovirus Infection?