How to stay away from the diarrhea killer “Norovirus”

The colder the weather, the “culprit” of the diarrhea in the autumn and winter seasons – the Norovirus, has long been raging. So, what exactly is Norovirus? How to prevent Norovirus? Gao Yan, the chief physician of the Infectious Diseases Management Office of Peking University People’s Hospital, and assistant researcher Qi Jiqiu will give a detailed explanation for everyone.

Norovirus has an acute onset, rapid spread and wide range

Norovirus, also known as Norovirus, has the characteristics of rapid onset, rapid spread, and wide range. The main symptoms are watery diarrhea, some patients may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, fever, etc. Children with vomiting are more common, diarrhea within 24 hours. As many as several times to ten times, the stool is a thin water or watery stool, no mucus and pus.

According to Gao Yan, China has an acute gastroenteritis caused by food-borne Norovirus every year. From November to March, it is a high incidence of infection, often in schools, communities, hospitals, restaurants, nurseries, nursing homes, etc. Caused a collective outbreak. Norovirus-infected diarrhea is prevalent throughout the world, and there have been large-scale outbreaks in many countries and regions such as the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Sweden, and Japan.

Cutting off the route of transmission is the key to prevention

Norovirus is highly pathogenic, and more than a dozen virus particles can cause infection. It is mainly spread by water, food (such as shellfish, strawberries, lettuce, etc.) and articles contaminated by the feces of infected people, and the infection route is diversified. Because Norovirus has no lipid envelope, it is not sensitive to alcohol and detergents, chlorine-containing disinfectants (such as 84 disinfectant) and high temperatures can quickly inactivate it. In addition, most of the infectious diarrhea caused by the virus is a self-limiting disease, and there are currently no vaccines or special effects.

Cutting off the route of transmission is the main method to prevent and control Norovirus infection. In the absence of a clear source of infection, attention to personal hygiene, frequent hand washing, and not eating cold and undercooked foods can effectively reduce the probability of infection. If the source of infection (patient) is clarified, the spread of the disease can be controlled by isolating the patient, cleaning and disinfecting the environment and excretion of the patient, and paying attention to personal hand hygiene.

Maintaining hand hygiene is the most important

Qi Qiu stressed that “maintaining hand hygiene is the most important measure to prevent and control Norovirus infection.” So, what is the right time and method for washing hands?

For medical personnel, hand hygiene should emphasize “three before and after four.” The “three fronts” refer to before the patient is treated, before the cleaning or aseptic operation, before the treatment or before the meal; “four after” refers to after contact with the patient, after contact with the patient’s environment, after contact with blood, body fluids and secretions, After removing personal protective equipment.

For ordinary people, the timing of hand washing is usually before, after, after going home, after contact with garbage and animals. In the hand washing method, be careful to wash your hands with running water and soap (soap) for at least 15 seconds. In order to facilitate the memory, the steps are simply summarized as seven-character sputum: “inside-out-clip-bow-big-li-wrist”.