Surviving the Norovirus

[Rigged]

What is the norovirus? It's a nasty little highly contagious virus that causes a person to experience fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and diarreah for hours and hours and hours. It's not an influenza virus, so there's no immunization for it. The virus can live on surfaces like door handles and counter tops for up to 12 hours.

Anyone in close proximity of a person who has it is likely to become infected themselves. Whole families get it at the same time and realize they should have got the place with more bathrooms.

Even the largest cruise ship in the world, the Queen Elizabeth II pulled into San Francisco with over 300 people infected with the virus.

I got hit last night, but my wife has co-workers who were brought down by norovirus a couple of weeks ago, so she had planned in advance. She bought Clorox disinfectant wipes that kill viruses. She bought ginger ale to settle upset stomaches, sports drinks to replenish electrolites, a spray bottle with a mix of water and bleach to disinfect (rather, decontaminate) bathroom and other surfaces. She even got fresh ginger to make a soothing, cleansing ginger tea.

White foods are a must if you're going to watching it spew forth later. You really don't want to be watching lasagna, spaghetti or anything Thai spraying out of your nose at 2:00am.

Sherri set us up with instant white rice, lightly roasted chicken breasts with onion and garlic for flavor and vitamins, Six-packs of Ensure for protein, and individual servings of Jello with fruit cocktail which is tasty and easy to digest while recovering from having one's guts run through a viral blender. We also have white bread, string cheese, and soda crackers to add a bit of bulk. Yogurt and Jarrow-Dophilus EPS pills are on hand to restore intestinal flora.

Nice, bland foods are easy to digest and won't look like abstract art all over your bathroom -- making cleanup that much easier. That's also where the spray bottle of bleach-water and disinfectant wipes come in. Every surface an infected person touches should be wiped down and decontaminated -- especially the toilet. Sherri had even bought new toothbrushes for us to replace the potentially contaminated ones.

All soiled clothing and bedding has to be washed in hot water and bleached if possible. Soiled and shared bedding is one of the ways the virus is spread to other family members. Don't mess around. A couple of my t-shirts got ruined with bleach, but it's a small price to pay to keep someone else from spending 36 hours spewing from both ends.

Don't screw around and take half-measures with this virus -- it has killed over 300 people, mostly older folks and young children. It caused even a big, strong guy like me to be so weak that all I could do sometimes was just lay there in bed and crap my drawers.

My wife is soft and cuddly and I really like sleeping with her, but while I'm potentially infectious, she's sleeping in the spare bedroom. An infected person remains contagious for up to two days after symptoms have stopped. Go back and read the last sentence again. Just because you feel well, don't be fooled by this nasty virus. You're still a carrier for two more days.

If you do any activity where you're in close contact with other people, you can become infected with norovirus. If you get infected, stay home, stay hydrated, get lots of rest, eat light foods, keep your environment meticulously clean. Avoid contaminating other spaces in your house. Don't go it alone. Sometimes, you'll be too weak to take care of yourself. Make sure your partner follows the rules about keeping clean, disinfected and decontaminated.

A potentially infected person should NEVER handle other people's food. That's how the virus spreads through cruise liners, restaurants, hotels and families.

Plan ahead.

Thanks, Sherri. See you in a couple of nights.

[Mike1]

I just got over a very nasty week, fighting Norvovirus. I hope you manage to beat it down in just 36 hours.

[Dirk Skene]

Dang dude! That stinks. Hope all gets better with you & yours soon. Best wishes.

[Dreadbelly]

There are a bunch of old folks where I live that have this. I think there has been 11 deaths here so far. Maybe more by now, been a while since I last heard the death count.

Next door neighbor died a little over a week ago. He was an older fella, really nice. Well loved and respected. He was old, yes, but he was active and vibrant and seemingly healthy. He was always going around with his walker smiling at people, and saying hello, and he was a positive part of the community.

Got sick and went in the hospital. Next day, dead.

[KiltedKnight]

I'm sorry to hear that you were ill, it's definately no fun!

I have no idea why but I very seldom get sick. I am 54 years old and last September my wife and I traveled up to my son's home in Grass Valley, California to see my newest grandson who had a cold and I caught this little guy's cold and suffered for about a week after returning home.

It made me take stock of things because the cold hit me so hard but after considering things my wife and I realized that I hadn't been ill with anything since 1983 when the flu got me and I spent three days all alone in a darkened room while trying to get over it. The reason that I remember this is that I was almost delirious with the bug. But once every twenty years or so is acceptable!

The surprising part of this is that my wife works in the medical field and has constant contact with folks who are ill with one malady or another and even though at time she comes down with something and I nurse her through it I never get the bug myself, figure that one out.

Perhaps it has to do with all the inoculations I received while in the Army...?

I don't know what I've been doing right but I hope it continues into my older years, I don't want to have to fight off some bug when I'm too old to fight it off.

Chris.

[Macman]

Thanks for the advice, Rigged. I hope you get over this thing quickly and that Sherri doesn't get it.

[Rigged]

Thanks for the advice, Rigged. I hope you get over this thing quickly and that Sherri doesn't get it.

I hope so too. This is an awful illness.

[ozmeath]

And make sure she doesn't go on the computer after you either! Bad news Rigged, sorry to hear about that but thanks for the heads up.

[Rigged]

And make sure she doesn't go on the computer after you either! Bad news Rigged, sorry to hear about that but thanks for the heads up.

Sherri has her own computer. She's a Mac person. I hope the heads-up helps. I'm on the mend, but this isn't your typical 24-hour stomach flu. 72 hours in and I'm still pretty sick and definitely contagious. I'm just starting to eat solid food and taking Immodium and Pepto to slow things down (doctor says it's ok at this point). I'm supposed to be starting my work week tomorrow. Not likely.