STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — In the wake of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s announcement of a norovirus spike, top Staten Island physicians warn that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of nausea, dehydration and general abdominal misery.
The gastrointestinal virus known as the “Winter Vomiting Disease’’ can cause fever, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. In some cases it can lead to dangerous dehydration requiring hospitalization and treatment with intravenous fluids.
The virus is surging earlier than usual this year, the CDC says. Cases began rising in October and are now in the high category nationwide, especially in the Midwest and Northeast.
Norovirus causes 19 to 21 million illnesses, 109,000 hospitalizations, and about 900 deaths annually in the U.S., mostly among older adults and young children, Newsweek reported.
Good hygiene is probably the most important way to prevent catching the virus, said Dr. Carly Rosen, a medical administrator in the Emergency Department at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze.
“Hand washing is probably most important,” she said, noting that people should avoid touching their eyes, noses and mouths during the winter months, when viruses are spreading rapidly.
”If you know someone who’s sick, avoid them,’’ Rosen advised. “Sometimes you live in a house with someone who (has symptoms of the virus). Quarantine them. Use bleach-based disinfectants in high-contact areas.“
The virus spreads easily and thrives on cool, dry surfaces. Medical professionals tend to see spikes in the virus during winter months when people gather socially indoors in close quarters as opposed to gathering outside, said Dr. Vahe Shahnazarian, a gastroenterologist and hepatologist at Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton.
He said to always use soap and water when hand washing to avoid the virus.
“Alcohol-based hand sanitizers won’t kill the norovirus,’’ he said. ”If your child has it, they should not go to school or daycare until their bowel movement frequency goes back down to normal.”
Healthcare workers and those who handle food for a living should not return to work until two to three days of symptom onset, he said.
It typically takes one to two days from the point of exposure for the patient to develop symptoms and they usually last two to three days, Shahnazarian said.
But the patient can still be contagious for up to a month after feeling better, he warned.
Blood in the vomit or stool is not typical of norovirus, he said. Headaches, muscle aches and generally not feeling well are common.
In order to diagnose the virus, a stool sample must be taken and analyzed in a lab, so doctors often treat symptoms and cases of the virus aren’t systematically recorded, Rosen said. Management of symptoms is what doctors advise, she said. If a patient is at risk of dehydration, medications can be prescribed to stop vomiting, Rosen said.
Visiting an urgent care center is most often enough, she said, though a visit to the ER is suggested if a patient is having multiple incidents of vomiting per hour and can’t hold any fluids down.
The risks posed by the virus are greatest for the very young and the very old, Rosen said. “That’s when it can become most serious,” she said. “Mostly, it’s dehydration. You’re not absorbing any of your fluids and because you’re so nauseous you’re not taking any in. You really can’t go more than a day without hydration.”
The most concerning symptoms of dehydration include low blood pressure, persistent fever and severe abdominal pain, Shahnazarian said.
Both physicians said the immunocompromised or anyone experiencing symptoms lasting three or more days should be evaluated by a doctor.
