New virus more contagious, spreads more quickly than most
Posted: Dec 30, 2013 1:20 PM CST
Updated: Dec 30, 2013 3:36 PM CST
By Stephanie Frazier
According to the CDC, norovirus causes your stomach and intestines to become inflamed, giving you stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. This can, in turn, lead to dehydration and, possibly, the need for hospitalization. In fact, each year, noroviruses cause about 70,000 hospitalizations and 800 deaths, mostly in young children and the elderly, according to Dr. Aron Hall, an epidemiologist at the CDC specializing in norovirus.
A new strain of norovirus is called GII.4 Sydney norovirus; it was identified in March 2012 in Australia. It is especially easily spread, as the majority of Americans don't yet have an immunity to it, and it takes fewer particles of this virus to make you very sick. According to ABC medical contributor Dr. Richard Besser, it takes 1,000 particles of flu virus to make a person sick; however, it only takes 18 particles of the Sydney strain of norovirus to infect a person. Besser also said that this strain can cause you to become ill within just a few hours of exposure, leading researchers and doctors to nickname it the "Ferrari of viruses."
In the U.S, it is now accounting for about 60 percent of all norovirus outbreaks, according to the CDC. As with most viruses, it is most severe in older adults and children, and others with compromised immune systems.
--more, including how to prevent and control the spread of the virus-- KLTV
This tip from the article jumped out at me, "Do not prepare food for others if you are sick." Again, we need a solid sick-leave policy for restaurant workers in this country!
= new reply since forum marked as read
It's been a while since my food service days, but the thought of taking a day off -- even if I could have afforded it, which I couldn't have -- was impossible. No doctor's note, no day off...and do you have any idea how hard it is to get into a doctor on the same day?!
And from what I understand, that 'policy' hasn't changed much. Which means you have to be able to afford at least two days off (one you're sick on, and one you go to the doctor's on) and the doctor himself ($25 copays may sound nice to a lot of people, but that's a lot of money to most restaurant workers!) just so you're not infecting other people!
That's insane. 
Methinks someone doesn't know science. Particles? It's a virus.
Which only affects GOP/TP.
Maybe then they would give a shit! 
I threw up every 15 minutes for over 36 hours and I won't even mention the other end. Unbelievable. I actually felt too sick to go to the hospital. It took 2 weeks to feel normal again. I'm 58 & have had my share of viruses, but this one took the cake. Ran a fever for 4 days.
