Steve Quayle News Alerts

January 3, 2003
The virus has closed hospital wards

The number of cases of the winter vomiting bug doubled over the last 12 months to reach their highest ever level, official figures have revealed.

There were 3,029 confirmed reports of the bug, otherwise known as norovirus, or Norwalk-like virus, during the first 10 months of 2002, according to the Public Health Laboratory Service.

This compares with 1,604 during 2001 and is higher than the previous peak year, 1996, when 2,437 cases were confirmed.

The virus causes sickness, diarrhoea and fever and typically lasts from 24 to 48 hours.

No summer lull

It typically peaks during the winter months but experts at the PHLS' communicable disease surveillance centre noted that in 2002 cases did not decline during the summer.

They also noted that most of the extra cases last year were among the elderly - 68% of all cases were in people aged 65 or over.

Generally, since 1992, more than three quarters of norovirus outbreaks reported to the PHLS occurred either in hospitals or residential homes.

The virus is easily spread through the air when people are sick, through contaminated toilets or in food and drink.

The PHLS said the rise in the number of confirmed cases did not necessarily mean that incidence of the disease had increased.

Increased awareness of the virus and better diagnostic methods could also be factors in the rising number of confirmed cases.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2625509.stm