SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
December is holiday season - lights, trees, cozy gatherings. And January? Well, once again, January seems to be norovirus season. Norovirus has been on the rise in recent weeks according to the latest data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We called up Dr. William Schaffner to help us better understand the virus and help arm us with the best ways to keep it as far as possible from us. Dr. Schaffner is a professor in the division of infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Welcome to the show.
WILLIAM SCHAFFNER: Good to be with you, Scott.
DETROW: So remind us, what exactly is norovirus?
SCHAFFNER: Norovirus is an intestinal virus. It's very, very highly contagious, and it can make you awfully sick for two or three days with vomiting and diarrhea. But then you get over it. The danger is a little bit of dehydration if you lose a lot of fluid.
DETROW: How exactly does it spread?
SCHAFFNER: It spreads very readily.
DETROW: Yeah.
SCHAFFNER: It takes only a small amount of virus to actually infect you. The virus can also survive on environmental surfaces for days or even weeks. So you can touch a contaminated surface with your fingertips and then touch your mouth, and since the dose required to infect you is so small, you can get infected. Of course, you can spread it person to person, and you can contaminate food and get it that way. So there are lots of ways to get norovirus, I'm afraid.
DETROW: Which leads to, like, the top news-you-can-use question I have here, which is, somebody in your house suddenly is sick - you think it's in the house. Like, what are the best concrete steps to do at that point? - because I think, sadly, many people are dealing with that at this time of year.
SCHAFFNER: Yes. Well, first of all, isolate the patient. You want to be as - have as little contact with the patient as possible. When you do, wear some gloves, please, and then wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. The patient may be very sick and spending a lot of time in the bathroom, so be careful about that, and stay away from the patient when they're vomiting. You have a tendency to want to comfort them, but the vomit itself can create some viruses in the air. And once again, the dose is so small that you could actually get it on your lips and such, and bing, then you're infected also.
DETROW: I have heard various rumors over the years that Purell or other hand sanitizers are ineffective against norovirus. Is that true?
SCHAFFNER: That is true. This is a virus that's resistant to the basic alcohol-based hand sanitizers and wipes. Soap and water is the best way to wash up afterwards.
DETROW: And if none of this works and you get it anyway, is it just Gatorade and rest? What's the best approach?
SCHAFFNER: Yeah, the sports drinks are very good but drink them in sips. If you drink a lot, it may come up on you very, very quickly, so keep sipping. And your point is well taken. Dehydration is the issue that can make you even sicker, so try to keep up with your fluid. We're particularly concerned with older persons who are frail and the very young because they may be most affected by this dehydration.
DETROW: Last thing I'm wondering is - any way to know for sure, any tell-tale signs if you're thinking, is this norovirus, is this food poisoning? Or at that point, does it not really matter what it is - you should just keep away from other people and hydrate yourself?
SCHAFFNER: Yeah. It's going to be norovirus 99% of the time during this season. In particular, if the illness begins with a sudden, explosive vomiting episode, that's noro (ph).
DETROW: And that's Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the division of infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Thanks so much.
SCHAFFNER: Thank you.
DETROW: Hope you don't get it.
SCHAFFNER: (Laughter). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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