Norovirus

In news– Recently, several cases of Norovirus have been reported in the state of Kerala.

About Norovirus–

It is the most common cause of gastroenteritis.
It is a bug similar to the diarrhoea-inducing rotavirus and it infects people across age groups.
Disease outbreaks typically occur aboard cruise ships, in nursing homes, dormitories, and other closed spaces.
The initial symptoms of Norovirus are vomiting and/or diarrhoea, which show up one or two days after exposure to the virus.
Patients also feel nauseous, and suffer from abdominal pain, fever, headaches and body aches.
In extreme cases, loss of fluids could lead to dehydration.

This disease is self-limiting, the infection, even though it takes a lot out of the patient, normally lasts only two or three days.
It is highly contagious, and can be transmitted through contaminated food, water, and surfaces.
The primary route is oral-faecal.
One may get infected multiple times as the virus has different strains.
It is resistant to many disinfectants and heat up to 60°C.
Therefore, merely steaming food or chlorinating water does not kill the virus.
The virus can also survive many common hand sanitisers.
As per WHO estimations, it is the most common pathogen implicated in outbreaks of gastrointestinal disease (inflammation of the stomach and intestines).
About one out of every five cases of acute gastroenteritis worldwide is caused by Norovirus.
Diagnosis is done by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.
No vaccines are available for the disease.