Posted on 01/27/2013 6:37:39 PM PST by BenLurkin
In an average year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 21 million Americans get the norovirus, with classic stomach flu symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea.
Eight hundred die. Symptoms come on very suddenly, within hours after a person has been exposed to it.
Because no one has immunity to this new strain, more Americans — perhaps 50 percent more, the CDC says — could become violently ill.
While the flu is spread mostly in the air by sneezes and coughs and a person needs to breathe in as many as 1,000 virus particles to get sick, the norovirus is far more contagious. Just 18 norovirus particles can make a person sick.
The flu can last two to four hours on hard surfaces outside your body, but the norovirus can survive and remain infectious for weeks.
To keep the norovirus away, medical experts suggest cleaning the house with bleach, not just regular detergents. They also say that while hand sanitizers kill the flu virus, they are not effective at getting rid of the norovirus
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
“Not that hand-washing is a bad thing, but like Bob said, it’s not the panacea some people make it out to be.”
I agree, eventually it can bite you in other ways, and I do usually wind up washing my hands a few times a day and rarely have them stay dirty.
But I’m starting to think that this may all be placebo, if people feel like they’re doing something to stay healthy, maybe that in itself will make them healthier.
I wash my hands at a public john like at a Trader’s Joe’s store, dry ‘em, and then touch the door handle to open the door. Great, job well done!
Had it and it was nasty. Woke up one morning 3am and ran to the bathroom and finally figured out I needed to sit down and put a pail in my lap. The diarrhea was so bad a couple of times I did not make it out of bed. Seventy two hours later I could function but didn’t want to stray anywhere that a bathroom wasn’t within 10 feet. Lost 7 pounds the hard way.
“Also, don’t touch money. It is one of the worst carriers of germs and viruses.”
LOL. I’ve heard stories about that...tested and everything - they are icky. And yet, I usually pay with cash. (and yes, I often put coins, and just about everything else, in my mouth).
But my favorite are the people with sterilized hands that take their reusable grocery bags to the store. If reporters (or doctors) wanted to really get to the bottom of this, they should start by looking there.
but I got to tell a little secret folks....WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE AT SOMETIME....
Had that crap last year. Violent is the word. All day vomiting even when there was nothing left. After it left...took a week to get over it.
“...wiping just with alcohol preparations just don’t cut it”
That’s what really set me off on this thread. The smug look that people have on their face as they’re drying out their skin with this magic product that can kill all the bad things and leave all the good things...and never have to worry about actually washing their hands and removing the junk.
Up until the point that the hand-sanitizer craze kicked in, I was generally willing to believe the stuff about washing hands every 30 minutes - now I’m TOTALLY SKEPTICAL of it all.
I’m at the horrible gas stage. If I could bottle it up and burn it in my furnace I could probably heat my house for a week.
Everyone has a different immunity level, independent of any vaccines.
When a new mutation spreads, there are just a certain percent who get effected by it, and a certain percent who don't.
The 'dirtier' you are, the less susceptible you usually are.
I try very hard to avoid being near people who are vomiting.
I absolutely cannot be in close proximity to someone who is vomiting. It freaks me out for some odd reason and not just because it’s gross.
Good luck, at least I’m not coughing..... Yet.....
‘Norobastard’. I like that.
Thank G-d I have not been stricken with it.
There is such a thing as too much hand washing. Stripping all the natural oils away can lead to reddening and rashes, which would increase rather than decrease the likelihood of infection. Same with alcohol based hand sanitizers.
I do wash my hands after every visit to the toilet, and am especially thorough if it’s a public restroom. All odors are particulate. If that doesn’t make you a little queasy, it should.
Keeping your hands out of your face is probably more important. Rubbing your eyes, chewing your nails or, gross as it is people do it all the time, picking your nose, is going to introduce bacteria and virus into your system. You may or may not be able to fight it off before it sickens you.
Vomit, gas, germs, viri, diarrhea, what a fun thread!
Exactly the same here. Said my prayers (as well as I could) in case they were the last ones.
Cattleman?
“The ‘dirtier’ you are, the less susceptible you usually are.”
I assume that you mean “more” susceptible. If so, has that ever been proven, or is it just assumed to be a fact...like the existence of the Social Security Trust Fund?
What happens if you lather and scrub for 10 seconds and rinse for 20 seconds?
Beer. Lots of beer. It sinks to the bottom in beer. YMMV
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